New
New
Year 1

The invention of photography

I can explain what photography is and why historians find it interesting.

New
New
Year 1

The invention of photography

I can explain what photography is and why historians find it interesting.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Photography is the process of capturing an image using a camera.
  2. This process produces a photograph, a picture of whatever the camera was pointed at.
  3. Photography is quite a recent invention, and has only been used for about 200 years.
  4. Photographs are interesting to historians because they have captured ways of life that have now disappeared.

Common misconception

Pupils may assume that people have always been able to take photographs.

Explain that photography was invented 200 years ago and, before that, photographs did not exist. People would have drawn or painted to record what they could see in front of them.

Keywords

  • Photography - photography is the process of taking a photograph

  • Photograph - a picture made using a camera

  • Camera - a camera is a device used for taking photographs

  • Historian - an historian is someone who studies and writes about the past

Invite staff to bring in a photograph of them as a baby or small child. Play guess the baby/child, where the pupils guess which photograph belongs to which member of staff.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the word to the correct meaning
Correct Answer:old,something you have had for a long time or has existed for a long time

something you have had for a long time or has existed for a long time

Correct Answer:new,something you have just been given, just bought or just made

something you have just been given, just bought or just made

Q2.
Something that has already happened is...
in the future
in the present
Correct answer: in the past
Q3.
Put the people in order, starting with the youngest.
1 - baby
2 - child
3 - adult
Q4.
Match the time words to when they happen.
Correct Answer:yesterday,the past

the past

Correct Answer:today,the present

the present

Correct Answer:tomorrow,the future

the future

Q5.
What is this item?
An image in a quiz
a television
Correct answer: a camera
a photograph
a games console
Q6.
What does a photographer do?
Correct answer: takes photographs
paints pictures
draws pictures
Q5 Billion Photos/Shutterstock

6 Questions

Q1.
What is photography?
Correct answer: the process of taking a photograph
a person who takes photographs
a device that takes photographs
someone who uses photographs to learn about the past
Q2.
Which devices can you use to take a photograph?
Correct answer: camera
Correct answer: mobile phone
television
book
Q3.
Photography was invented 200 years ago. True or false?
Correct answer: true
false
Q4.
What is a photograph?
Correct answer: a picture created by a camera
a picture that is painted
a picture that is drawn in pen
Q5.
Match the keywords to the meaning.
Correct Answer:photography,the process of taking a photograph

the process of taking a photograph

Correct Answer:photograph,a picture created with a camera

a picture created with a camera

Correct Answer:camera,a device used to take a photograph

a device used to take a photograph

Correct Answer:historian,someone who studies and writes about the past

someone who studies and writes about the past

Q6.
How do historians use photographs?
Correct answer: Historians use photographs to learn about the past.
Correct answer: Historians use photographs to compare then and now.
Historians take photographs of their favourite things.
Historians decorate houses with photographs.

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