Camera Obscura/Pin Hole Camera Lesson Plan and

Week 1 Photography Unit Plan

WEEK/DAY: LENGTH OF TIME:
Day 2-Week 1 1 hour

TENTATIVE
DATE: August
21

TOPIC/DOMAI MATERIALS NEEDED:

N: - Computer
Camera - Projector
Obscura/Pin - Paper
Hole Camera - Pens/ Pencils
Lesson - Internet
- Black Trash Bags
- White butcher paper
High School - Cardboard of various sizes
Photography - 5 lenses (Premade from cardboard and a washer)
- Masking Tape (4 rolls)
- Blue painters Tape (4 rolls)
- Large poster of pin hole camera
Group card explaining student rolls in the process
OBJECTIVE   
What will your students Students will be able to analyze and explain how to build a camera
be able to do by the end
of the lesson (SMART obscura/pinhole camera and be able to identify the parts of the device and
GOAL)? how it works.  Students will be using their prior knowledge to collaborate
  to turn the classroom into a camera obscura and determine how to create
What is your College
and Career Ready the best images in the room.
Standard (or any state-
or national-specific
standard)?

PREREQUISIT Students have prior knowledge of the history and the use of the Camera
E SKILLS obscura, they have also researched and explored images created using this
What will your device.  Students in previous lessons conducted individual research on the
students need to device, they watched videos as well as looked at images created by such
know to master the devices.
grade-level
objective?

KEY POINTS  How does light move through a lens?

What three to five  History of the camera obscura, how did it shape cameras today?
key points will you 
emphasize?

OPENING (5 Students will enter the classroom and be welcomed as they come in (High
min.) Five, Elbow Tap, etc,) they will be directed to grab a warmup paper, the
How will you warmup paper consists of a crossword puzzle with the vocabulary that
communicate what is
about to happen?  they have been learning about the camera obscura. 
How will you
communicate how it Vocabulary includes
will happen?
How will you  Object- a material thing that can be seen and touched.
communicate  Image- a representation of the external form of a person or thing in
its  importance? art.
How will you
communicate connecti  Obscura- An early camera that was often made using a blacked-out
ons to previous room or box
lessons?  Camera - a device for recording visual images in the form of
How will you engage
students and capture photographs, film, or video signals.
their interest?  Light Rays - The light entering the room through the lens
 Dark Room - A blacked out room or box used to see images
(Alternate definition is a room used to develop film and film
images.)
 Lens - A small hole that allows light to enter
 PinHole (Camera) - A small shoe box sized device used to take
very early pictures or to create an image used in a sketch.
 Johann Zahn - Inventor of the pinhole camera
 Subject-  the main idea that is represented in the artwork.

INTRODUCTI Students will be asked to look to the front of the classroom. The instructor
ON OF NEW will explain the lesson.  The instructor will begin by explaining that today
MATERIAL (5 students will be creating a camera obscura in the classroom. The instructor
min.) will lead the students in a review about the parts of the camera obscura
What key points will and what they will need to make a camera obscura, this information will
you emphasize and be recorded on a PowerPoint (By either instructor 1 or 2) and projected
reiterate?
How will you ensure onto the screen. The goal of this discussion is to make sure that students
that students actively understand how the device works and what they need to be successful.
take in information?
How will you vary
Students will be split into groups with assigned roles to complete their
your approach to part in the creation of turning the classroom into a working camera
make information obscura. 
accessible to all
students?  The PowerPoint should include the information
Which potential
 Camera Obscura means Dark Room the room or box must be
misunderstandings
will you anticipate? completely blacked out
Why will students be  Unnecessary light in the room will make the image harder to see. 
engaged/interested?  Light rays travel through a hole or lens and are projected upside
down on a wall opposite the lens
 The images are best shown on a blank white wall/surface
 PowerPoint includes video on “How to Turn a Room into a
Camera Obscura” 

George Eastman Museum. (2020). How to Turn a Room

into a Camera Obscura. How to Turn a Room into a Camera
Obscura/YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hsXo4gD7iWI. 

I can relate this lesson to the article “Methods and Situational Ethics in
Music Education” written by Allsup and Westerlund (2012) their ideas of
making sure their teaching is relative to what students are interested in and
what they want to take away from their learning. This lesson is a very
student-centered lesson that gives them the knowledge of how a camera
works and brings in light.

Groups: Students will be split into groups based on roles (24 students in
the class) These groups will be determined by a random number generator
and students will be given a premade index card with information on their
roll and the expectation of their role in the project. 

 Task Manager/Timekeepers: 3
 Wall Cover Engineers: 2 groups of 4 (8)
 Window Blackout Engineers: 2 groups of 4 (8)
 Lens Placement Engineers: 3
 Recorders and Summarizers: 2

 Task Manager/Timekeeper: The students in this role will be

expected to keep their classmates on task and keep an eye on the
time that is left for students to complete the project. 

 Wall Covering Engineers: The task of this group is to determine

the best wall for the images to be projected onto and cover the
posters and other objects on that wall using the white butcher
 paper.  This group will need to collaborate with the lens group to
ensure that the wall they are covering is opposite of where the
lenses will be placed. 
 Window Blackout Engineer: The roll of this group is to cover all
the windows in the classroom with the cardboard and the black
trash bags, this group should be collaborating with the lens group
to determine where the lenses will go and make sure there is
cardboard on those windows. 

 Lens Placement Engineers: This group will need to collaborate

with multiple groups to determine the best location for the lenses
to be placed correctly and they will need to decide what height to
place the lenses at, the lenses should be placed to show the same
viewpoint from different locations on the window. 

 Recorders and Summarizers: These students should be recording

the progression of the project, what worked best and what did not
work well. They should also make notes on where the lenses are
and what is seen in the images projected on the wall. 

This lesson follows the ides of a student-centered approach to learning

where the teacher is simply a facilitator in the lesson. (Teach.com)

While this lesson is not a true STEM lesson the idea that students must
gain skills in how work collaboratively is seen throughout this lesson. The
idea of the students succeeding on this lesson is their collaboration and
how they work with one and other as seen in the article from Karisan, D.,
Macalalag, A., & Johnson, J. (2019)
GUIDED The students will have 25 minutes to collaborate and create the
PRACTICE (25 Camera Obscura in the classroom, the idea is that they will choose the
min.) wall opposite of the windows to be the location where the image is
How will you clearly projected, they will cover the window using the cardboard and trash bags,
state and model they may cut and tear the bags any way they need, they will be given
behavioral
expectations?
masking tape and blue tape to secure the items to the wall. The students
How will you ensure will have to decide where the “lens” should be placed on the covered
that all students have windows, they will have a total of 5 lenses to place in the window. The
multiple instructor will use an Exacto blade to cut the bag or cardboard out from
opportunities to the hole in the lenses to ensure student safety, the instructor will then
practice?
How will you
place a piece of tape with black paper over each lens hole to ensure that
scaffold practice no unnecessary light is entering the classroom. Students will then be able
exercises from easy to experiment with the lenses and the placement to create different images
to hard? in the classroom. When there is 5 minutes left in the class the instructor
How will you will call students back to their seats for an exit ticket.
monitor and correct
student performance?
 
Why will students be ** Include a time warning at 15, 10 and 5 min left**
engaged/interested?
 This lesson follows a UDL framework by offering multiple ways for the
students to obtain their knowledge, through computer research, hands on
activity and conversation with their peers. It also encourages the students
to think about how they could use the information learned to make their
own original works based on what they learned in the classroom.
(McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. 2012).
INDEPENDEN Each student will be given a worksheet with a series of questions.
T PRACTICE
(10 min.)  How does the camera obscura work?
How will you clearly  What did you learn about the passage of light through a lens?
state and model
behavioral  What issues were encountered and how did you overcome them?
expectations?  How does weather effect this process?
In what ways will
students attempt to  What in the process went well and what did not go well?
demonstrate
independent mastery of They will answer the questions and turn them in.
the objective?
How will you provide
opportunities for
extension?
Why will students be
engaged/interested?

CLOSING (10 Students will return to their seat and we will discuss/debrief what worked
min.) and what did not. What challenges they had and what was easy about the
How will students
summarize what they
project. What did the students think about the final outcome of the
learned? project? Did they finish the project in the time allowed to them or do they
How will students be asked
to state the significance of need to continue the project into tomorrow?
what they learned?
How will you provide all
students with opportunities Leading students in a group discussion after the completion of the lesson
to demonstrate mastery of
(or progress toward) the
to discuss as a group what worked best and what needed improvements,
objective? how did the class as a whole succeed and struggle. (Teaching Works)
Why will students be
engaged/interested?

ASSESSMENT Students will complete an exit ticket; the students will be answering the
How will you know question “Did the Camera Obscura work? Why or why not? Remember to
whether your use vocabulary you have learned to describe your response”
students have made
progress toward the
objective? How and
when will you
assess mastery?

References Allsup, R. E., & Westerlund, H. (2012). Methods and Situational Ethics in
(Below, please Music Education. Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education,
provide up to 11(1). http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/AllsupWesterlund11_1.pd
three references
that you used to George Eastman Museum. (2020). How to Turn a Room into a Camera
ensure that this Obscura. How to Turn a Room into a Camera Obscura/YouTube.
 was researched,
referenced-based https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsXo4gD7iWI. 
lesson plan. Must
be APA styled.) Great Teachers Aren't Born They're Taught. TeachingWorks.
https://www.teachingworks.org/work-of-teaching/high-leverage-
practices.

Karisan, D., Macalalag, A., & Johnson, J. (2019). The Effect of Methods
Course on Preservice Teachers' Awareness and Intentions of Teaching
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Subject. International Journal of Research in Education and
Science, 5(1), 22-35.

HOW TO TURN A ROOM INTO A CAMERA OBSCURA. Eastman

Museum. (2020).
https://www.eastman.org/sites/default/files/2020_GEM-
CameraObscura_HowTo.pdf.

McTighe, J., & Wiggins, G. (2012). Understanding by design

framework. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development

Nicholls, J. Camera Obscura. PhotoPedagogy.

https://www.photopedagogy.com/camera-obscura.html.

Teaching Methods. Teach. https://teach.com/what/teachers-

know/teaching-methods/.

Week 1: Unit Plan (Intro to Photography)

Week 1: Day 1
Title: History of Photography
Author: Samantha Lindsey
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to summarize the history of photography and be
able to identify early forms of photography
Modeling (I do): Introduce the history of photography, use a PowerPoint as well as examples
of the types of early photographs.
Guided Practice (we do): Students will explore and research a portion of the history of
photography and then we will have a class discussion on what the students found. (Websites
the students will be allowed to use will be pre-screened and given to them in a word doc.)
 Independent Practice (you do): Students will be given a worksheet with 6 different terms of
the history of photography, they will need to conduct research on the terms and complete the
worksheet they are given.
Closing: Who created the first photograph?
High Leverage Practice: Checking student understanding during and at the conclusion of
lessons: Teachers use a variety of informal but deliberate methods to assess what students are
learning during and between lessons. These frequent checks provide information about
students’ current level of competence and help the teacher adjust instruction during a single
lesson or from one lesson to the next. They may include, for example, simple questioning,
short performance tasks, or journal or notebook entries.

Notes: Have examples of early types of photographs for visual reference.

Week 1: Day 2
Title: The Camera Obscura
Author: Samantha Lindsey
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to analyze and explain how to build a camera
obscura/pinhole camera and be able to identify the parts of the device and how it works.
Modeling (I do): Introduce the project that students will be completing. Lead students in a
discussion about how they may complete the project.
Guided Practice (we do): Students will be split into groups and will be tasked with turning
the classroom into a camera obscura, they will be given tasks to do along the way and I will
check in with the various groups to check for understanding.
Independent Practice (you do): Students will complete an exit ticket; the students will be
answering the question “Did the Camera Obscura work? Why or why not? Remember to use
vocabulary you have learned to describe your response”
Closing: How does a camera obscura work?
High Leverage Practice: Leading a group discussion: In a group discussion, the teacher and
all of the students work on specific content together, using one another’s ideas as resources.
The purposes of a discussion are to build collective knowledge and capability in relation to
specific instructional goals and to allow students to practice listening, speaking, and
interpreting. The teacher and a wide range of students contribute orally, listen actively, and
respond to and learn from others’ contributions.

Notes: This lesson has weather requirements and may have to be moved if the weather is not
compatible with the lesson.

Week 1: Day 3
Title: Traditional Techniques
Author: Samantha Lindsey
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to identify various forms and techniques of early
photography, such as:
 calotypes
 Sun Prints
  Tintypes
 film development
 developer
 stop bath
 fixer
 exposure
Modeling (I do): Review types of photography, introduce the film process. What are the
steps in the film process, go over the vocabulary and introduce artists made famous through
film process.
Guided Practice (we do): Students will be given an online worksheet and will be given a list
of film photographers that they will research. Students will identify an artist from the list and
be asked to give a summary of the artist and a few of the works they like from that artist.
Independent Practice (you do): Students will explore black and white film photography; they
will identify the steps needed to create a photograph from film.
Closing: What is the film process and how does it work?
High Leverage Practice: Designing single lessons and sequences of lessons: Carefully-
sequenced lessons help students develop deep understanding of content and sophisticated
skills and practices. Teachers design and sequence lessons with an eye toward providing
opportunities for student inquiry and discovery and include opportunities for students to
practice and master foundational concepts and skills before moving on to more advanced ones.
Effectively-sequenced lessons maintain a coherent focus while keeping students engaged; they
also help students achieve appreciation of what they have learned.

Notes: Have examples of the types of film process photographs as well as diagrams of how
film process works.

Week 1: Day 4
Title: Introduction to the Camera
Author: Samantha Lindsey
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to identify how a camera works and how
photographs are created.
Modeling (I do): Introduce how a camera works, the parts and various types of cameras.
Introduction of the vocabulary that is needed to know when working with cameras.
 Optical Viewfinder
 Macro
 Landscape
 Program Mode
 Shutter Priority
 Aperture Priority
 Full Manual
 Exposure
 Aperture
 F/stop
 Shutter Speed
  ISO
 Noise
 Shutter Release
 White Balance
 Pixel
Guided Practice (we do): Students will be exploring the parts of the camera through a
document provided to them. The instructor will lead a discussion about the different types of
cameras from DSLR to smartphone cameras and the benefits and usage of each. Students will
also be lead in a discussion comparing and contrasting the camera obscura, film cameras and
digital cameras.
Independent Practice (you do): Students will complete a camera part “scavenger hunt” and
explain what the various parts of the camera do.
Closing: Why do we need to know the parts of the camera?
High Leverage Practice: Implementing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work:
Each discipline has norms and routines that reflect the ways in which people in the field
construct and share knowledge. These norms and routines vary across subjects but often
include establishing hypotheses, providing evidence for claims, and showing one’s thinking in
detail. Teaching students what they are, why they are important, and how to use them is
crucial to building understanding and capability in a given subject. Teachers may use explicit
explanation, modeling, and repeated practice to do this.
Notes: Bring in different examples of cameras and have large posters of labeled cameras and
how they work.