The Way Things Were

Student Activity - Making Inferences


by Carol Schlenk

Name:  
Date:   Class Period:  
In the exhibit, "The Way Things Were" you viewed photos of rural Texas frontier buildings. Even if you had known nothing about the history of these buildings, you would have been able to understand much about them just by making educated guesses about their use, location and origins.

Carefully study the photo on this page. Then answer in complete sentences the questions below the photo and on the next page.

 

  1. Using what you know about Texas geography and the visual information in the photograph, do you think this building is in north, south, east or west Texas? Explain why you chose the answer you did.


  2. Based on the photo, what could you safely say about the climate in this part of Texas?


  3. What context clues in the photo did you use to determine your answer to question #2?


  4. What does a flag flying outside a building usually tell you about the building?


  5. When would you guess this building was built? Explain your answer.


  6. What does the architecture of the building remind you of?


  7. What building materials were used in the creation of this building?


  8. Where do you think these building materials came from?


  9. Why do you think the building has so few windows?


  10. Does this building look like someone’s home? Explain why or why not.


  11. Do you think you would like to live in this building? Explain why or why not.


  12. Now that you’ve made several inferences about this building, make your hypothesis. What do you think this building is?