Scavenging Photographic Style

A Photographic Collage

It’s great to have a keen power of observation.  See how you do on this Scavenger Hunt!

Get together with friends and work as a group, challenge someone to find the items before you, or just do these alone at your leisure.

See if you can find all the items on the list.

(Score 1 point each item found)

Each item can only be used in one category.

You don’t have to complete the hunt at one time.

Make sure you check with an adult if you wish to go out and about searching.  They may wish to accompany you.

Also, do not enter private property without checking first!

 This is a Photographic Hunt.



You may use either things you find naturally, or set things up for the photos.

Print and label them, and explain your choice of subject.


SCAVENGER HUNT LIST
Take photos to represent the following.

Something very old.

Something very young.

Something very tiny.

Something huge.

Something tubular.

Something with many colours.

Something man made.

Something showing Nature’s power.

The most beautiful scene you can find.



The most disturbing or horrible scene you can find.

Something yummy.

Something growing.

Something edible that you don’t like.

Something very fast.

Something very slow.

Something captive.

Something free.

Something that shows survival against the odds.

Something that shows man’s destruction of natural environment.

Something that shows conservation efforts.

Something growing inside something else.

Something very tall.

Something up high.

Something dried up.

Something expanding.

Something melting.

Something about to bloom.

Something of the night

Something flying.

Something blowing.

Something floating.

Something you can fit inside.

Something you can’t.

Using Photography as a Learning Tool

Observe... Capture... Create...

Photography can be beneficial in learning in far more ways than just learning to use a camera. In fact, photography activities can be used to enhance any formal subject area, plus can be a valuable personal development tool as well. Viewing things through the lens of a camera gives students (of any age!) the chance to see things from a different perspective. They learn to look more closely at what is around them, to focus on what's actually there, to see things from various angles and develop creativity.

Students also develop good critical judgement and comparative skills as they look at their work and choose photographs that best fit their need. They learn visual balance and pleasing aesthetics in framing their subjects, as well as developing appreciation for colours, shapes, textures and forms. Also may come an awareness of how to create different "feel" to an image, by using different lighting, filters, colour etc.

They often also learn patience, as they wait for the perfect moment when the sun casts the right light... or in trying to capture a bird in flight or a great goal at the footy... or as they work with animals or people in getting the shot they want.

Taking photos is also fun and hands on, not a dry seemingly "boring" way of approaching the world. It can also be challenging, and require some overcoming of obstacles and perseverance- all of which are usually undertaken gladly as the student photographer strives to get "just the right shot" to portray what they are trying to get across to the viewer.
Photography can be very creatively satisfying, and a great confidence booster- especially useful for students who may not excel in sporting type activities, or are not highly academic- as the photographer can take pride and pleasure in what they have achieved, and the appreciation, from others, in their work.

Below are some suggestions for incorporating photography into various learning areas.

• Photography can be a great way to illustrate procedure for various experiments or projects. Students can not only show how they carried out their own work, but create Step-by-Step guides for other students who wish to recreate the experiment.
  
• Ask students to find and photograph scientific principles and processes at work, such as- leverage, energy conversion, geological features, or the life cycle of a plant.
  
• Nature provides endless possibilities for biological and environmental science illustration.
  
• Photography provides an accurate way of recording change over time.

• Plenty of opportunity here for using various computer technology in the form of photo editing software, printers etc.
  
• The camera itself is a piece of technology and students can learn about the various technical details, parts, accessories etc and how they work.
  
• Have students create photographic displays of various technology related things.

• Use for creating historical records, such as buildings, landmarks or monuments.
  
• Photographic recreation of a historical event.
  
• Using photo editing techniques to give old time look to recent photos of old buildings etc- what shouldn't be in the scene? And what should be that is not?

• Students take photos and then paint, draw, weave, model, sculpt or any other art or craft form to depict the photograph, in whatever style they wish.
  
• Reinforce perspective and visual elements through the "eye of the camera".
  
• Take photos to represent a piece of music (with or without lyrics), and be played during it to enhance the experience.
  
• Take some photos, then write music/song which helps express the images.
  
• Have students take photos to use as dramatic inspiration for dance themes and moves.

• Get students to explore shapes with a camera. Just how many different triangles can they locate?
  
• Have young students help you create a number book or poster by taking their own photos of objects to represent each number.
  
• Assign students mathematical principles to illustrate... and see how creative they can be!

• Have students take photos of objects to label- either in English (or your native language) or a foreign language.
  
• Illustrate stories or poems- either their own or published authors- with photos. How creative can they be in how they portray them?
  
• Get students to take a photo, or photos, then write a story or poem inspired by their photos.
  
• Create a regular class magazine/newsletter and encourage students to write about school or local events, with photos as illustration.

• Ask students to portray a certain culture or segment of their community through photographs.
  
• Get students to report on a significant event or proposal which will affect the community, with photographic illustrations.
  
• Create a "time capsule" with student photos of daily life, school life, and other elements that represent the time you live in.

• Sports photography creates challenges of its own... challenge the students to photographically represent a school game or their favourite sport.
  
• Get students to create a step-by-step "how to" of a sport, or a dance routine, or martial arts move etc in photos.
  
• Have your students track their own results of an improved diet and exercise plan with progressive photos of themselves. (not necessarily shared with whole class, if some students are sensitive about their appearance.)

These have just been a few ideas to get you started on using photography to teach, enhance, inspire and motivate your students in their learning journey. Come up with some of your own! Maybe even challenge your students to devise some photography learning ideas for themselves.

Seen through the eye of the photographer, the world can take on enchantment anew!

We’re Going on a Colour Hunt!

Connecting Kids To Nature Activity 

Nature is full of colour!  Sometimes bright, sometimes subtle.  It’s time to really open your eyes and take notice of the wide and varied colours all around you.

This activity could be done in your garden, a local park, a bush area in a national park, or just on a wander around your neighbourhood.

You could choose to hunt for one colour at a time, then another colour on your next outing and so on.  Or you could decide to record all colours you find at once, at the same location. 

If you’re just searching for one colour, add a bit of fun by wearing a shirt or hat of that colour!

Remember to record all the various shades of a colour, not just ‘green’.
Can you find reasons for various things being bright or subtle tones?  Camouflage?  Attracting insects or mates?  New or old growth?

Take along your nature journal to record your findings.  A camera is another great tool for this activity.

 Here’s a few ideas of where you might look for colour:

• Red- berries, bark, leaves, stems, birds, insects, flowers, rocks, earth
• Green- leaves, stems, moss, under bark on tree trunks, rocks, pond slime, birds, insects
• Blue- flowers, the sky, the sea, birds, specks in rocks, insects
• White- parts of tree trunks, flowers, sand, rocks, birds, insects, mushrooms and toadstools, other fungus
• Black- rocks, insects, trunks, birds and beaks, soil
• Pink- tree trunks, birds, flowers, insects, soil, rocks, fungus
• Silvery- trunks, rocks, spider webs, insects, the glint off water
• Orange- a sunset, rocks, birds, insects, flowers, fungus
• Brown- earth, trunks, animals, reptiles, insects, the underside of a mushroom
• The reds, oranges and pinks colours of a sunset
  
  
  
  

Don’t forget to look in hidden and unusual spots, like under things and in things… but always be aware of what else could be there, such as spiders, other insects and prickles!  Wearing light gardening gloves might be a good precaution.

Also, another good reason to wear gloves is that you may touch a plant that can cause a skin reaction.  Don’t put anything (including your hands) in your mouth or touch your eyes when you have been handling plants etc, and make sure you wash your hands as soon as possible afterwards.

Record and take photos of the colours you find.

When you get home, see if you can find coloured pencils to match some of the colours you found.  How many could you match… and were there lots more shades than the pencils you had?

Colour a swatch to illustrate what the colours looked like, in your nature journal.  You could even draw a picture, using the coloured pencils, showing some of the main colours you found and where you found them.

Another cool idea is to get out your paints and see if you can mix colours to match all the shades you found.  See if you can mix colours to show the subtle variations you found.

It's Blue With 5 Petals

Connecting Kids to Nature Activity

It's Blue with 5 Petals is the name of a plant identification book of wildflowers of the Adelaide region by Ann Prescott.

In fact, there are quite a lot of bluish coloured flowers with five petals.

Go for a wander in your garden and along the street, with your camera, and see how many of these you can find.  You could even try a Botanical Garden or other planted park areas.

Take a photo of each one and make any notes that might help you to identify the plant later.  For instance, is it a groundcover, low plant, bush, tree climber etc?  What shade and intensity is the colour?  Does the flower have a scent?  What about the leaves?  Are the leaves soft, rough, shiny, hairy, succulent?  Are there any interesting or distinguishing features to the plant?

What about bluish flowers with a different number of petals?  What flower can you find that has the least?  The most?

Of course, flowers come in many more colours, so why not carry out the same process for each colour.

How many other colour flowers can you find with 5 petals?  What colour flowers seem to come with the most petals?  Is there one or two colours that seem most predominate?  Why do you think this is the case?

Does one colour of flower seem to be more highly scented?

What do you notice about insect activity around flowers of different colour- such as butterflies, bees etc?  Does a particular insect appear to be more attracted to one colour than another?  Could there be other factors affecting this, such as scent, size, shape, amount of pollen or nectar etc?

What things can you deduce from all the information that you have collected in your study?

After The Rain…

Connecting Kids to Nature Activity

Rain… the bringer of changes… the awakener of new life.

After a few days of good rains, what changes can you find?  Venture out into your garden or area of bushland.  This can be even more effective if you have recently explored the area before the rains and taken photos and made notes about what it looks like after a dry spell, such as the summer months, and then revisit it after the first few rainy days of autumn, or in the winter.

What do you notice?  What has grown, appeared or changed?

Here’s some things to look for:

• Newly created anthills
• Running creeks
• Evidence of branches, sticks, leaves or rocks washed up on banks, or even into bushes or trees, showing that a volume of water has passed through
• Rock pools containing water that were dry before
• Water droplets on webs
• Pools in hollows in the ground
• Eroded channels in the soil, made by water
• Animal footprints in mud
• Moss appearing on tree trunks, rocks and the ground
• Newly sprouted seeds- can you tell what the plants might be?
• Mushrooms and toadstools springing up through the ground
• Colourful fungus sprouting on old logs
• What about insect or bird activity… is this any different?

Take photos of anything you discover and make notes in your nature journal or notebook.

You can continue to make observations of the area at different times of the year and after different weather conditions and record what changes occur.

Book Review- How to Get Kids Offline, Outdoors and Connecting With Nature

How to Get Kids Offline, Outdoors and Connecting
With Nature

200+ Creative activities to encourage self esteem, mindfulness and wellbeing
 
Author: Bonnie Thomas

ISBN: 978-1-84905-968-8

No-one would dispute that the internet does hold a great deal of useful information and opportunities, however it can also have not so good consequences if we over use it, and this is especially true for our children.

Lack of exercise, obesity, over-stimulation, sleep difficulties, among other things, can all result, along with skewed perceptions and a lack of experiences in, and connection to, the natural world.
 
This book is not just a collection of activities to help promote these experiences and connections… although it abounds in these… but is aimed at child and family mental health professionals wanting to incorporate nature-based activities into their sessions.  However, this book would also be of interest to any parent who believes being with nature is an essential part of growing a healthy, happy caring, well-rounded child.

Each chapter has lots of interesting insight and discussion, along with activities which fit into the concept.  Some of the activities include: storytelling stones; talking sticks; worry and wish dolls; guided imagery; nature mobiles; dream catchers; portable Zen garden; alphabet trees; labyrinths & walking meditations; liquid sand sculptures; message stones; earth looms; mini sculpture gardens; mini lawn for your feet; geocaching; miniature outside worlds; rain silhouettes; sand silhouettes; ice cube boats; snow forts & igloos and apple faces.  This is only a small selection, by the way!  There are over 200 activities in total.

Lots of valuable stuff contained in these pages!  I recommend this book for anyone who is a parent, or works with children in any capacity.

Bonnie Thomas, Author

Chapter List

Part I  Nature is Therapeutic
Incorporating Nature in Your Therapeutic Practice
Relaxation and Mindfulness
Nature-Based Therapy and Grief Work with Youth by Karla Helbert

Part II  Nature is Fun
General Activities
Blacktop Activities
Sand and Beach
Forest and Trees
Fields and Grassy Areas
Puddles and Mud
Rivers and Streams
Snow
Bring Nature Indoors