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Jillian Maki, Sami Wackerle, Nicole Jack

Task: In this inquiry, you and a partner are asked to track the story of an item that represents one of your consumer practices, such as your cellphone, your favorite sweater, or a delicious, juicy piece of steak, from the start to the end of its life.  To represent your learning, create a photo essay, which will be digitally published on our class’s website to tell your item’s story. We will be showcasing these photo essays at the nearby Public Library. Your showcase will consist of a poster representing your item’s story with a QR Code to link to your digital photo essay.  

 

Photo Essay Criteria: Your photo essay must consist of 10-12 images, each with <100 word captions, and be reflective of good design principles as discussed in class. One of your images should be a map, summarizing the journey of your item.

Suggested Activities:

 

  • Introduce Consumerism by watching the “Story of Stuff,” after watching the film students will complete “Defining Happiness” (Lesson 7) in the “Facing the Future” lesson package. This lesson encourages students to personally consider what quality of life means, and how it relates to their happiness. In the “Defining Happiness” lesson, students will complete the Pick 5 Worksheet, where they decide which five of the listed options pertaining to good quality of life are the most important to them. In class results are tallied, the students will discuss on how these five things relate to their consumption habits and in what ways does consumption positively and negatively affect their quality of life. Students will also explore why some people may not be able to spend time or money on things that would improve their well being. Invite students to write a short reflection paragraph examining how their ideals of happiness compare to their daily activities.

 

 

 

Resources:

“Story of Stuff” - http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/

“Defining Happiness” - https://www.facingthefuture.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Zgfu7lBIRwE=&portalid=0 (p. 59).

 

  • Introduce the 5 stages of an item’s life, as shown in the “Story of Stuff” - extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Watch the “Story of Bottled Water” and have the students fill in the below chart with ideas introduced by the movie that fit into each stage of bottled water’s life. Advise them that not all categories may be answered by the video. Ask the students to consider the impacts of this product’s life, and implications of the opportunities and challenges of consumerism, and follow with class lecture on the costs and benefits of consumerism and building balanced definitions of the key economic definitions.

 

  • Item selection and life story research

  • In pairs, students will select an item that interests them and is a part of their consumer practices to research for the photo essay. Using the five stage framework/chart provided for the bottled water example in activity 2, have them research each stage of their item’s life. Provide information on effective research techniques/places to look for information as needed. For example “life cycle” is a good term to use. Use an example such as “The Life Cycle of a T-Shirt”  or “The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD” if needed. Students will be able to use laptops in class for research. Have the students complete an outline of the item’s life story to summarize their findings that will be handed in at the end of the period. Remind them that the story should not just focus on the way, but also consider the impact of their practices on the quality of life of individuals involved.

  •  

                Resources:

    “Life of a T-Shirt” - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mattias-wallander/the-lifecycle-of-a-tshirt_b_887133.html

    “Life of a CD/DVD” -  http://www.epa.gov/waste/education/pdfs/finalposter.pdf

     

  • Mapping the Impact

  • Have students use “Scribblemaps” or a similar free mapping service to create a map illustrating the five stages of their item’s life story for use in their Photo Essay. Discuss some of the basic principles of map design, and the reason for map making in the first place. This lesson will develop students’ understanding on how maps can provide valuable economic and political feedback, the ability to design geographic questions, and skills in operating multimedica/technological mapping sources. Students will be provided with examples of good and bad maps. Remind students that their map should attempt to overview all of the five stages of their items’ journey; however, they later may create other more detailed maps for specific stages of the journey to count towards their other images. Formative feedback on map quality and assistance using mapping tools will be available in this lesson.

     

    Resources:

    Scribble Maps - http://scribblemaps.com/

                Map design basics - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/09/g912/cartographyguidestudent.pdf

     

  • Introduction to Photo Essays

  • Watch the Lord of War “Life of a Bullet” opening and have a class discussion about what makes it an effective and powerful message, and the reasons that people have for sharing this message. Connect to the idea that there should be a purpose or theme behind their sharing of their item’s life story. Then have students look through published photo essays, and discuss what images, captions and designs tell an effective story. Select two, an exemplar and a bad one, and have students grade them using the rubric. If resources permit, attend a National Geographic Live ($11 per student) show at the Art Commons in downtown Calgary. Explain how this show is an example of a photo essay that is delivered verbally.

     

                Resources:

                “Life of a Bullet” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHn1zogeyO4

    Photo Essay examples -  http://lightbox.time.com/category/photo-essay/, National Geographic, http://www.fastcoexist.com/3019307/these-eye-popping-photos-show-how-they-get-the-minerals-that-power-your-gadgets#2, http://www.domusweb.it/en/photo-essays.html

    National Geographic Live - https://www.artscommons.ca/ArtsAndEducation/TeachersandSchools/National%20Geographic%20Live%20-%20Student%20Events.aspx

               

  • Image Selection

  • Have students select 10-12 images that effectively represent their item’s life story, and keep them in either a Google Doc or a Google Drive folder. Remind them that their item’s story should have a mood/theme/emotion associated with it. Refer to images selected in photo essay examples. The map shows the physical journey of the item and this part should address human and ecological perspectives. Is it something that’s ultimately good, bad, or are parts of it good and parts of it bad? Have a class discussion regarding what makes a high quality image. Teacher can introduce concepts such as, rule of thirds, resolution, and framing. Refer to Photography 101 PDF for information. Demonstrate to students how you can use an advanced search in Google in order to find only high quality images. Teacher can walk around to every group and provide verbal, formative assessment regarding student’s themes and images. By the end of this class students need to have selected all of their images.

               

    Resource:

    Photography 101 PDF - http://graphics.cs.cmu.edu/courses/15-463/2011_fall/Lectures/postmodern.pdf

     

  • Caption Writing

  • Have students prepare <100 word captions for each of their images in a Google Doc. Remind them that while the images should stand alone to tell a story, good captions improve/add to that story, and that they should reflect the impact of quality of life through multiple perspectives throughout the process.  Instruction will be provided on how to create written captions that allow students to efficiently assemble/organize different viewpoints, and how to effectively emphasize the validity of their claims. Students will have to also re-evaluate personal opinions to broaden their understanding of the issue, along with the ability to analyze current affairs and controversial issues. Teacher will visit each group to assess their writing of at least one of their captions to provide feedback and guidance on their writing tone and style.

     

                Resource

    Picture Caption Tips  - http://www.magazinedesigning.com/what-to-do-with-picture-captions/ (part content, part design, for the next step).

     

  • Putting it Together

  • Students will now work on the final composition of their photo essay, and instructions on using a program, such as MS Publisher or InDesign. A computer teacher can help students in this class with detailed instructions on the need to know basics of the program. Resources and handouts will also be provided to students to guide them in technological instructions for using the computer program. In this class students will be able to reflect on the good design principles, as discussed by the computer teacher and in their previous lesson on photo essays, and then work on building the proper layout, mood, and theme for their photo essay.  

     

  • Peer Review, Update, Publish it

  • In this class, students will peer-review each other’s photo essays, using the rubric as a guide, and receive constructive advice on the structure and visual appeal of their photo essay. Students will then be instructed on how to publish their photo essay online using Issuu.

     

    Resources:

    Issuu - http://issuu.com/

     

  • Create poster for showcase

  • Have students work on their posters in class. Explain that the poster should resemble a page/magazine cover, and should effectively convey the content of their photo essay while encouraging people to “open it up” and check it out. Encourage them to think outside the box, and be creative, by showing poster examples. Students will be asked to come prepared to this class with materials from home to work on creating their poster with their partner. Posters will also have a QR code attached to them, linking to their digital photo essay.

     

                Resources:

    Design tips - http://blog.marketingv2.com/bid/275318/9-Graphic-Designers-Tips-for-Fabulous-Posters, http://dzineblog.com/2010/12/7-tips-to-design-a-good-effective-poster.html

    Examples - http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/excellent-posters-from-the-design-world-59-examples/,

    http://gomedia.us/zine/insights/poster-design-inspiration/

     

  • Have a showcase

  • Showcase will take place at a local library in the community. Students will display their posters around the room and then have a laptop at their station that allows the viewer to see their photo essay, or they can use the attached poster QR code to view photo essay on their own mobile device/ipad.

 

 

Curriculum Outcomes Addressed by this Unit:  

 

Big Idea: Do your consumer practices make you a good citizen? Consumer practices have widespread, and not always obvious at first glance, implications. Many of these implications depend on the context, the perspective, and the scale through which they are considered. This assignment will have students reflect on how their consumer practices may benefit their own quality of life, but at what cost to others and the environment? Understanding consumer practices will challenge students to re-evaluate personal opinions, and consider how individual and collective behavior impacts societal well-being.

 

Skills and Processes  

Program Overview

  • engage in active inquiry and critical and creative thinking

  • recognize and responsibly address injustices as they occur in their schools, communities, Canada and the world

  • communicate ideas and information in an informed, organized and persuasive manner.

  • apply historical and geographic skills to bring meaning to issues and events

  • use and manage information and communication technologies critically

  • conduct research ethically using varied methods and sources; organize, interpret and present their findings; and defend their opinions

              

  •   9.S.1 develop skills of critical thinking and creative thinking:

  • evaluate, critically, ideas, information and positions from multiple perspectives

  • re-evaluate personal opinions to broaden understanding of topic or an issue

  • access diverse viewpoints on particular topics by using appropriate technologies

  • assemble and organize different viewpoints in order to assess their validity

     

  • 9.S.2 Develop skills of critical thinking and creative thinking:

  • evaluate, critically, ideas, information and positions from multiple perspectives

  • demonstrate the ability to analyze current affairs from multiple perspectives

  • re-evaluate personal opinions to broaden understanding of a topic or an issue

     

  • 9.S.3 Develop skills of geographic thinking:

  • use geographic tools, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, to assist in preparing graphs and maps

  • construct diagrams, charts, graphs and tables to analyze geographic information

  • define geographic problems and issues and pose geographic questions

     

  • 9.S.7 Apply the research process

  • integrate and synthesize concepts to provide an informed point of view on a research question or issue

  • draw conclusions based upon research and evidence

  • analyze and synthesize information to create a product

     

  •  9.S.8 demonstrate skills of oral, written and visual literacy:

  • Communicate in a persuasive and engaging manner through speeches, multimedia presentations and written and oral reports, taking particular audiences and purposes into consideration

  • elicit, clarify and respond appropriately to questions, ideas and diverse points of view presented in discussions

  • make reasoned comments relating to the topic of discussion

  • listen to others to understand their perspectives

     

    Knowledge and Understandings

      Program Overview

  • understand how political and economic distribution of power affects individuals, communities and nations

  • understand the role of social, political, economic and legal institutions as they relate to individual and collective well-being and a sustainable society

  • understand how opportunities and responsibilities change in an increasingly interdependent world

  • understand that humans exist in a dynamic relationship with the natural environment.

     

  • 9.2.5 Assess, critically, the relationship between consumerism and quality of life in Canada and the United States by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues:

  • What are the indicators of quality of life?

  • How does individual consumer behaviour impact quality of life?

  • How does consumerism provide opportunities for and limitations on impacting quality of life?

  • To what extent do perspectives regarding consumerism, economic growth and quality of life differ regionally in North America?

               

    Values and Attitudes

      Program Overview

  • demonstrate social compassion, fairness and justice

  • demonstrate a global consciousness with respect to humanity and world issues

  • demonstrate a consciousness for the limits of the natural environment, stewardship for the land and an understanding of the principles of sustainability

        

  •   9.2.1 Appreciate the values underlying economic decision making in Canada and the

    United States

     

  • 9.2.2 appreciate the relationship between consumerism and quality of life (C, CC)

  •  9.2.3 appreciate the impact of government decision making on quality of life (C, CC,

    PADM)

     

 

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