1. Urban Changes Urban Development

2. 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

3. This is what those places look like today! Wow!

4. Can you match the cities with their environments?

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

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

7. Grassland Rainforest Sandy desert 1860s 1905 1950s Bellevue, Washington Denver, Colorado Las Vegas, Nevada

8. 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?

9. Photo Credits Lee Vierling Denver Public Library Western History/Genealogy Dept. Eastside Heritage Center Sherry Ballard © California Academy of Sciences UNLV Special Collections PDPhoto.org Dr. Robert Thomas © California Academy of Sciences