Investigate the growth and development of New York City with the final lesson in this four-part series on skyscrapers. Learners first explore the concept of urban growth by looking closely at a series of three paintings made of Wall Street over the course of 45 years as they attempt to place them in chronological order. The same task is then repeated using three pictures of the New York City skyline taken between 1925 and 2004, with children creating their own pictures of what they think the city looked like long ago and what they imagine the city will look like in the future. This lesson nicely concludes the series and opens children's eyes to the constantly changing world around them.

Concepts

architecture, city planning, skyscrapers, urban development, urban planning

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Additional Tags

architecture, skyscraper, urban development, urban planning, city planning, urban growth, social studies

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Pros

• Paintings and photographs clearly demonstrate changes in New York City over the past 100 years
• Worksheet provides guiding questions that support students with analyzing the paintings of Wall Street

Cons

• Additional scaffolding may be required to support young learners with the activities in this lesson

Common Core

RI.3.7 RI.4.7 RI.5.7 L.2.5.a L.3.5.a L.3.5.b RI.6.7