TAKING INFORMED ACTION

How can photographic methods be used to preserve an ever-changing place?

OUTLINE

*For more detailed instructions, see the full lesson plan. 

For this taking informed action activity, your students will share their photo essays for the purpose of inspiring civic action and/or raising awareness. There are many ways to structure this activity; make choices that fit your students and situation, and if time and resources allow, consider sharing the photo essays in more than one way. 

Your students can display their photo essays physically by setting up a photo gallery. They can also display them digitally by creating ArcGIS story maps. Once again, we recommend doing both, if time and resources allow. 

Your students can share their photo essays with a variety of audiences. Consider the following ideas: 

  • Set up a photo gallery in an area at your school where other students can explore it between classes. Also, ask other teachers if they would bring their classes to see the gallery during class time. 
  • Create digital story maps using ArcGIS. Then, create posters that tell people how to access your story maps and hang them up around your school and/or community. Ask other teachers if they would dedicate class time to exploring your story maps. 
  • Host an event at your school where you invite students, teachers, administrators, and parents to explore your photo gallery. 
  • Send your physical photo gallery and/or digital story maps to other schools in your city. Consider having your students visit those schools to give presentations about their work and/or answer questions about it. 
  • Contact relevant local organizations about your students’ photo essays. Your students could give presentations to these organizations, or they could use their physical and/or digital spaces (e.g. offices, social media pages, websites, etc.) to share their gallery and/or story maps. 

Tips for creating a physical art gallery

  • If your school does not have photo quality printers, you may need to seek print shops in your area. 
  • Encourage your students to display their photos creatively, and remind them that display order is important for the telling of their stories. 
  • Displayed artwork should have a title, date, artwork dimensions, medium,  and artist’s statement (describing what is shown in the photos and what the study learned about the associated societal systems). See examples here.

ASSESSMENT

Grade the students’ presentations based on the following criteria: 

Do the order and orientation of the student’s photos enhance the story they are trying to tell? 

    • Did the student add any elements of creativity to their presentation?
    • Did the student properly frame their photos (either by adding digital borders or using physical frames with mattes)?
    • Did the student include relevant and well-written artist’s statements for their photos? 
    • Did the student use colors, lines, and shapes that complement their photos well (if applicable)?
    • Did the student properly use digital photo tags (if applicable)? 
    • Did the students properly print their photos on photo paper (if applicable)?

Note: You may want to add criteria that are even more specific to the type of display your students created (a physical gallery or digital story maps).