• Have students create and present a documentary that parallels The Singing River, Rhythms of Nature for another major waterway in the state, such as the Tombigbee River or the Mississippi River.

• Select (or, where applicable, have technology students take) pictures that reveal the serenity and pristine qualities of the Pascagoula River. Then, have students illustrate how the same area might look 100 years from now if we continue with our current rate of conservation efforts. Have students write a comparison/contrast paper that relates the two illustrations. Photos from The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril: Part 1, 2 and 3.

• Using the quote: "A monster called sprawl: unmanaged growth may end what centuries of human habitation left mostly undisturbed, and that is the free flow of the Pascagoula River and its major tributaries," have students write a futuristic science fiction narrative which places characters on the Pascagoula River if unmanaged growth continues.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril, Part 2, stories:  A river threatened, Industry drawdown, Few counties regulate growth, Dispelling old stereotypes, Growing without the pains, Today's polluter has thousand faces.

• Using the same quote as above, have students create a tour guide script and/or brochure that is futuristic in nature and depicts what might occur if unmanaged growth continues.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril, Part 2:  A river threatened.

• Have students research conservation efforts to save rivers in other states and/or countries and create a "plan of action" to preserve the Pascagoula River. Ultimately, the research and students' ideas might become melded into an informative essay to be sent to a state or congressional leader/legislator.

Search www.sunherald.com archives and other Knight Ridder newspapers for recent river conservation articles.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril, Part 3,  Preserving a treasure, stories: “Stinking City” no more, Environmentalism, education go together.

• Using the legend of the Pascagoula Indians, have students create a modern-day legend that would involve alternatives and resolutions that would have averted the tribe's demise.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril, Part 1, A priceless heritage, stories: Treasure, UFOs and a river that can sing.

Using The Sun Herald review the Nation and World section to find conflicts that may have destructive outcomes for a culture or ethnic group.

• As an alternative activity, have students research legends involving rivers in other states/countries and write informative essays relating their findings. www.sunherald.com, search The Sun Herald archives and other Knight Ridder newspapers for articles that contain river folklore or legends.

• Have students write narratives using any combination of the dozens of animal species associated with the river and its tributaries as their main characters.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Part 1, A priceless heritage, stories:  Behold a natural river, Treasures, UFOs a river that can sing.

• Have students write narratives placing any characters from previous literary selections studied into a setting along the Pascagoula River.

Materials: Materials: The Sun Herald series, Part 1, A priceless heritage.

• Have students write and present television and newspaper advertisements which acquaint the public with wildlife along the river, promote conservation or the urgency to save the river or its wildlife species, or that inform the public about participating in a statewide campaign to save the Pascagoula River.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Part 1, A priceless heritage, stories: Behold a natural river, Part 3, Environmentalism, education go together, As IP lands vanish, the future of rolling land holdings comes into question.

• Dividing students into groups, have one group write poetry relating the majestic qualities of the Pascagoula River and the other group write poetry relating the unpreserved ruin of the river. Once each side shares poetry, have students write a comparison/contrast essay that uses the most powerful imagery exposed by each side.

Paradise in Peril: A priceless heritage, Part 1, A river threatened, Part 2

• Have students write a persuasive essay to their future grade level counterparts, 50 years hence, convincing them of the need to continue preservation efforts for future generations.

Materials: The Sun Herald series, Paradise in Peril, Part 1, A priceless heritage, Part 2, A River threatened, Part 3, Preserving a treasure.