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HorseCrazy93 (31/2347)

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Be an Outdoor Photojournalist!

Level | Summary | Objectives | Estimated Time to Complete | Materials Needed | Procedure | Classroom Assessment | Alternate Activity | Extensions/Adaptations | Relevant National Science Education Standards

For easier printing, download this lesson plan as an Adobe PDF (119K).

Summary: The role of a photojournalist is to observe, understand, document, and report. This lesson encourages youth to adopt the role of photojournalist to report on the wonders of the natural world. It combines outdoor observation, classroom discussions, and online activities. Students will play the role of a photojournalist assigned to report on the exciting happenings in their outdoors “beat” for the local newspaper. The students will break into small groups, investigate exciting “nature news,” take photographs using a digital camera (or draw them online) and upload them to the Backyard Jungle web site.

Their goal is to find the most exciting image and most captivating headline to describe it. The best one will be selected for the front-page story of the Backyard Jungle News, their classroom newspaper. The next day students will hold an editorial meeting led by the teacher and attended by their photojournalist classmates. Students will share their images and corresponding headlines and do their best to convince the editor that their image should be selected as front-page news. The teacher will lead a discussion that allows students to compare and contrast all the images from the class, along with the Discovery of the Week on the Backyard Jungle web site.

Objectives: The students will be able to:

• Discuss ways that human activities affect the natural world
• Identify dependencies upon and threats to habitat
• Discuss the characteristics of an effective newspaper headline

Estimated Completion Time: 2 to 3 hours with emphasis given on time spent outside.

Materials Needed:

• Digital cameras (optional)
• Computers (Digital Camera capable) with Internet Access
• Notepad and writing instrument
• Newspapers-at least one section of the newspaper per student
• Downloaded worksheet Download this worksheet as a PDF (99K)

Procedure:

1. Tell students that they have just been hired as photojournalists for Backyard Jungle News. Their assignment is to find the most exciting news taking place in their backyard today. Explain to students that they will have to convince the editor that their story and image should be front page news.
2. Relate the story of the ivory-billed woodpecker. "Only one hundred years ago, the southeastern part of the United States was covered in forest. This forest was the home of many living things, including the ivory-billed woodpecker. This woodpecker builds its nest in trees and eats insects that feed on dead trees. It can only survive in an area that has a lot of old trees. In the early 1900s many forests in the southeastern U.S. were cut down because people needed wood. Soon, there were few places where the ivory-billed woodpecker could survive. The last photographs of the ivory-billed woodpecker were taken in 1948. Then, the bird disappeared. Biologists searched everywhere for it but could not find it. Years passed without any sign of the ivory-billed woodpecker. Finally, in 2004 a kayaker in Arkansas spotted a large bird that looked like an ivory-billed woodpecker. Biologists investigated the area and discovered that the ivory-billed woodpecker is still alive. Today, people are trying to protect the forest where the ivory-billed woodpecker was rediscovered." For more information on the ivory-billed woodpecker go to: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/
3. Explain to the students that human activities can help or harm the natural world. Help the students come up with some examples. Terms to discuss should include conservation, erosion, air pollution, land pollution, water pollution, deforestation, and habitat destruction.
4. Distribute digital cameras and worksheets to students.
5. Take the students outside. Give them a couple of examples of news stories taking place in the schoolyard. For example, "Look at what is happening to the soil here. What caused that to happen? Do we have deer living in our schoolyard? Why not?"
6. Direct the students to investigate some of the ways that human activity is affecting the natural world around them. Assist students in their investigations. Encourage them to explore multiple stories and take multiple images.
7. Bring the students back inside to the computer lab. Have students go to the Backyard Jungle website: http://pbskids.org/backyardjungle. Students should open an account (or access an existing account), build a backyard, and add their images as Discoveries.
8. Distribute newspapers to the students. Tell the students to scan through the newspaper and pick a favorite headline. Call on a couple of students to share their favorite headlines. Have them elaborate.
9. As a class, list the characteristics of a good headline (i.e. A good headline grabs your attention. It should be to the point.) Tell the students that they will need to pick their best image and come up with a headline for that story.
10. The following day, explain to the students that they are now meeting with their colleagues to pick the front page news. One student should be selected as "editor". Each student should present his or her image, state its headline, and tell why the story should be selected for the front page. Finally, present the "Discovery of the Week" from the Backyard Jungle website and make a case for it being on the front page.
11. Lead a discussion on all the news stories. In what ways are they similar? How are they different? Which ones do you think should be front page news? Why?
12. As a class, categorize all the news stories into stories of "Conservation", "Pollution", "Erosion", "Habitat Destruction", and other appropriate categories.
13. Follow up with other lesson plans from Backyard Jungle. Give the students opportunities to make more Discoveries and add them to their sites.

Classroom Assessment:

Alternate Activity: Students who do not have access to digital cameras can sketch their images on their notepads outside and then use the Backyard Jungle drawing tool to save their discoveries directly into the Backyard Jungle website. Go to the Backyard Jungle website http://pbskids.org/backyardjungle and log in. Then click on "Add a New Discovery" followed by "Draw my Discovery". Students will need additional time in the computer lab if they are drawing their discoveries.

Extensions/Adaptations

Younger students may benefit from working in small groups or "teams". Less experienced students should be paired with more experienced students.

If students have completed the plant survey activity: http://pbskids.org/backyardjungle/info/plant_survey.php then the discussion should include introduced species as a threat to habitat.

Advanced students should view the following websites for instructions on how to write a headline and examples of good headlines. http://www.copydesk.org/headhints.htm, http://www.copydesk.org/headsup.htm

For a good children’s book on deforestation and habitat loss, read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Even very young students will understand it. Older students still appreciate it.

Relevant National Science Education Standards:

Science as Inquiry Standard: Communicate scientific procedures and explanations

• Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models.

Life Science: Populations and ecosystems

• The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.

Life Science: Diversity and adaptations of organisms

• Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Populations, Resources, and Environments

• When an area becomes overpopulated, the environment will become degraded due to the increased use of resources

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Natural Hazards

• Human activities can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes.