It was also during this time that national parks were established. Students might consider the history of American attitudes toward developing and utilizing natural resources and use this history as a context for studying present day issues of conservation. Learn More About It to further explore these ideas. Search on mountains , waterfalls , national parks , oil , mines , canals , dams , and railroad to see images showing different uses of the land. Expository Writing Using photos from the collection to illustrate their writing, have students create and provide explanatory labels for an exhibit of what life was like at the turn of the century.
Creative Writing Have students write short stories about people in the panoramic photographs.
Students might create characters living in specific locales, and describe where they live and their daily activities. Or, students can write a journal or diary entry in the voice of someone who is describing a place or event found in a panoramic photo. Or, students can assume the role of a tour guide leading visitors around a particular city, and describe the sights, smells and sounds of that place. The decades surrounding 1900 saw the increasing development of regional literature. Students studying regional writers of the era can use the panoramic photographs as a way to visualize the type of landscape the writers drew upon for creative inspiration.