Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Casey.

What's your name? I am so excited to join you for today's history lesson.

Today's lesson is part of the unit, "Photographs from History: What can they tell us about Britain's recent past?" and the title of today's lesson is "The Invention of Photography." An invention is when something was created or used for the very first time.

I can't wait to find out more about the invention of photography.

Should we get started? By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain what photography is and why historians find it interesting.

Here are our key words for today.

Listen carefully and I'll read them to you.

Photography.

Photograph.

Camera.

Historian.

Do you think you can have a go at saying them? Let's do my turn, your turn.

Are you ready? My turn.

Photography.

Your turn.

Well done.

My turn.

Photograph.

Your turn.

Excellent.

My turn.

Camera.

Your turn.

Well done.

My turn.

Historian.

Your turn.

Excellent, well done.

Let's find out what the words mean.

Photography is the process of taking a photograph.

A picture made using a camera is called a photograph.

We often call photographs photos.

A camera is a device for taking photographs.

A historian is someone who studies and writes about the past.

Listen out for our keywords during the lesson.

Today's lesson has two parts.

The first part is, what is photography? The second part, how are photographs used by historians? Let's start by finding out what is photography.

Photography is the process of taking a photograph.

Here is a picture of someone taking a photograph with a camera.

People haven't always been able to take photographs.

Photography was invented about 200 years ago.

Before photography was invented, the only way to record a picture was to draw or paint it.

Here is a timeline showing us when photography was invented.

An excellent start to today's lesson.

Well done, everyone.

Let's check what we've learned with this true or false.

People have always been able to take photographs.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and tell the person next to you.

That one is false.

People haven't always been able to take photographs.

Is it false because photography was only invented about 200 years ago or photography was only invented about a hundred years ago? What do you think? That's right.

Photography was only invented about 200 years ago.

Before that, people had to draw or paint to create a picture.

We still like drawing and painting today, but it's a different way to make a picture.

Photographs are pictures made by a camera.

There are lots of different types of cameras Nowadays, most mobile phones have a camera and people can take photos on their phone.

But that wasn't always possible.

Here is a photo of a phone camera, a photo of a camera with a large lens, and a photo of a Polaroid camera.

Have you seen any of these types of cameras before? Two of the main types of cameras are cameras with film, these tend to be older types of cameras, and digital cameras, which are a newer design.

A digital camera uses a light sensor and you can see the images straight away on the screen and store them digitally.

A film camera uses special light-sensitive paper called film, and you need to get the photographs printed out before you can see them.

Can you see the photo of an old camera with a film roll? Let's check what we've learned so far.

Which of these items can you take a photograph with? A, a mobile phone.

B, a camera.

C, a book.

Pause the video and talk to the person next to you.

Well done.

We can take a photograph on a mobile phone or with a camera, but not with a book.

When you take a photograph, you point the camera at the thing you want to take a picture of.

When you press the button, a tiny shutter opens and lets light in through a lens.

The light then hits the sensor or the film, and an image is created.

Can you remember? Film is that special, light-sensitive paper.

Let's check what we've learned so far.

Complete the following sentences correctly, using the same key words.

Can you remember all of our key words? Photography.

Photograph.

Camera.

Historian.

Which one of our key words fits into these sentences? Number one, A, is a picture made by a camera.

Number two, you point a camera at the thing you want to take a, off.

A camera uses light to create a.

Pause the video to decide which keyword fits into these sentences.

Well done, a photograph.

A photograph is a picture made by a camera.

You point a camera at the thing you want to take a photograph of.

A camera uses light to create a photograph.

You can take photographs of anything, people, places, events, and wildlife.

Here's someone taking a Photograph of elephants.

They're using a digital camera with a large lens.

Here is a family taking a photograph of themselves.

That's called a selfie.

They're using a mobile phone camera to take their picture.

And here is someone taking a photo of London Bridge.

Have you ever taken a photograph? What do you like taking photos of? People often like to take photographs of their family, special celebrations such as a party, or visiting a special place such as a trip to the beach School.

Photographs are common too, where someone takes a photo of everyone in the class.

Have you had a class school photo before? A photograph is a picture of something that is happening in front of the camera.

It captures the moment in time.

People often display photographs in their home or a photo album.

Here's a family photograph in a frame, and here Is a family looking at a photograph album.

Let's check what we've learned so far.

Match the word to the correct meaning.

Photography.

Photograph.

Camera.

A picture made using a camera.

A device that takes a photograph.

The process of taking a photograph.

Pause the video and see if you can match the word to the correct meaning.

Photography is the process of taking a photograph.

A photograph is a picture made using a camera.

A camera is a device that takes a photograph.

Did you get that right? Excellent job, everyone.

Now it's time for our first task.

Explain to a partner what photography is.

Can you use these words? Photograph, camera, invented.

Pause the video and have a go at our first task.

Well done, everyone.

Some great discussions.

Here's what you might have said When you take a photograph with a camera, it is called photography.

It was invented 200 years ago.

Now it's time for the second part of our lesson.

How are photographs used by historians? Historian was one of our key words.

Can you remember? A historian is someone who studies and writes about the past.

Things in the past are things that have already happened.

Photographs can last a long time.

They have captured moments and events in the past so they can show us what things were like a long time ago.

Here is a lady looking at old photographs.

It's nice to remember what things were like or special events and things that have happened.

Historians are people who study and write about the past.

They can use photographs to find clues about the past and see what the past was like.

Here's a photograph of a historian working.

Let's check what we've learned so far.

Who uses photographs to learn about the past? Farmers, dentists, historians.

Pause the video, tell the person next to you.

Well done.

Historians use photographs to learn about the past.

Historians compare photographs of the past and now and look for clues in photographs.

They would ask questions about the photographs to help them understand the past.

They might ask who, what, where, when, why, or how to help them find clues in photographs and to work out what was happening in the past.

Let's check what we've learned so far.

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence about how photographs are used.

We can learn about the past or the future from photographs.

Photographs last a long or a short time.

Hairdressers or historians ask questions to help them learn from photographs.

Pause the video and decide which word is the correct one in each sentence.

Well done.

We can learn about the past from photographs.

Photographs last a long time.

Historians ask questions to help them learn from photographs.

Did you choose the correct words? Well done.

Photographs from the past can show us how people lived.

Historians will ask those questions and look for clues in the photograph.

They may ask, who is in the photograph? When was the photograph taken? What are they wearing? This is an old photograph of a Victorian family.

Historians can also learn about things people did in the past from photographs.

Here is a photograph of a child with a rocking horse.

Historians might ask, what toys do the children play with? What clothes do the children wear? What is the rocking horse made from? Historians can learn about transport and technology from the past.

Here is a photograph of a 1920s car.

A historian might say, how did the car work? Who would've had a car like this? They might ask, how is this car different from today's cars? Can you think of any other questions? Excellent ideas.

Learn about important events in the past.

Here's a photograph of a street party in 1977.

Historians might ask, "What's happening? Why are they celebrating?" to learn about the event.

Let's check what we've learnt.

Identify whether each statement is true or false.

Indicate your answer with a tick or a cross.

Photographs from the past can show us how people used to live.

Historians can learn about the things people did in the past from looking at photographs.

Historians can learn about important events in the future.

From looking at photographs.

Pause the video and decide which statement is true and which ones are false.

Photographs from the past can show us how people used to live.

That's true.

Photographs from the past can show us lots of different things.

For example, how people lived, what clothes they wore, what toys they had, what equipment they used, and how they travelled.

It can also show us what happened at big events such as celebrations.

Historians can learn about things people did in the past from looking at photos is true as well.

But historians can't learn about important events in the future from looking at photos as the future hasn't happened yet.

Historians can compare photographs to learn about how something has changed.

When you compare something, you look at what is the same and what is different in a photograph.

Here are two photographs of London, one in the past and one now.

What is the same? What is different? Let's check what we've learned so far.

Laura is talking about photographs.

Do you agree with Laura? Discuss your ideas with a partner.

Laura says, "Historians can use photographs to find out about how things have changed." Pause the video and discuss your ideas with a partner.

Laura is right.

Historians can compare photographs from the past and now to discover what has changed.

They can look for differences.

Here is our second task.

What questions could you ask about this photograph from the past? Write or say your ideas.

Here are some question words you could use.

Why.

What.

Where.

When.

It's time to imagine you are a historian.

what questions would you ask? Pause the video and have a go at this task.

Well done, everyone.

Here are some questions you might have asked.

Why are they having a party? Where is the party? When was the photograph taken? I wonder what questions you had.

Was it fun being a historian? Well done, everyone.

We've come to the end of our lesson.

Let's summarise what we've learned so far.

We use cameras to take photographs.

The camera creates a picture of whatever it is pointed at by reacting to the light.

Taking a photograph is called photography.

Photography was invented 200 years ago.

Before then, the only way to make a picture was to paint or draw.

Historians use photographs to learn about the past.

They ask lots of questions, who, why, what, where, looking for clues in the photographs and comparing them to now.

Well done, everyone.

Bye for now.