Urban Changes

Urban Development

Let’s learn about how three cities were born and raised.

This is what they looked like before they were built.

One was a prairie grassland

One was a sandy desertOne was a rainforest

This is what those places look like today! Wow!

Can you match the cities with their environments?

Here’s a little bit more information about these cities. This is what the cities looked like when they were first being built.

Now, can you match the cities with their environments? Look carefully!

Grassland

Rainforest

Sandy desert

1860s

1905

1950s Bellevue, Washington

Denver, Colorado

Las Vegas, Nevada

So, let’s think about this a little bit.

How do you think the plants in these places changed as the city was built?

How do you think the animals in these places changed?

How do you think the land cover in these places changed?

How do you think the temperatures of these places changed in the summer?

Do you think that these places became more alike, or more different from one another as the cities were built?

Photo Credits

Lee Vierling

Denver Public LibraryWestern History/Genealogy

Dept.

Eastside Heritage Center

Sherry Ballard © California Academy of Sciences

UNLV Special Collections

PDPhoto.org

Dr. Robert Thomas © California Academy of Sciences