Okay kiddo, let me explain what the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) is all about in a way that's easy for you to understand. Do you like exploring big parks or gardens and finding out about the history behind them? HALS is just like that!
Hal's job is to travel around the United States and document special places that have been around for a long time. These places could be a really big park where you can go hiking or maybe a pretty garden that has lots of flowers. But what makes these places so special is that they have a really important story to tell!
Now, when Hal travels to these special places, he takes lots of pictures and draws pictures too! This helps people know what these places looked like many years ago and what they look like now.
Then, Hal writes down a big story about the place. He talks about all the important things that happened there in the past and the people who made it special. This story helps us understand what the place means to our history and why we should take care of it.
So, basically, HALS is like a big explorer who travels to special parks and gardens with a camera, a pen, and lots of curiosity! He takes pictures, draws pictures, and writes a big story about the place. This helps us know more about the history and why the place is so important to us.