Photographs That Changed The World

GQ: How can one moment influence our future?

Expedition lead: S. Oliver
Curriculum: History, Science and Art
Phase/Year group: Primary, Year 5/6
Delivery date: Winter 2020

During the Autumn Term of 2020, Year 5 and 6 embarked on an exciting expedition titled ‘Photographs that changed the world’ and investigated the guiding question ‘How can one moment influence our future?’ 

The pupils explored significant moments in our history that have been caught on camera and how these events have influenced our world today. This calendar is the result of the pupils’ hard work during the expedition and includes amazing artwork and written reports describing the significant events that are featured. Please also visit our expedition website for further examples of the outstanding learning that took place using the QR code.

Our learning targets

  • I can seek out and analyse a wide range of evidence in order to justify claims about the past.
  • I can understand that no single source of evidence gives the full answer to questions about the past.
  • I can describe the social, ethnic, cultural or religious diversity of past society.
  • I can describe the characteristic features of the past, including ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children.
  • I can describe the main changes in a period of history. 
  • I can understand the concepts of continuity and change over time.
  • I can use dates and terms accurately in describing events.
  • I can recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines.
  • I can use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye.
  • I can explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes.
  • I can improve my mastery of drawing and painting. 
  • I can create a colour palette based upon colours observed in the natural or built world.
  • I can use brush techniques and the qualities of paint to create texture.
  • I can use a variety of techniques to add interesting effects (reflections, shadows, direction of sunlight).

Our learning journey

We began our expedition by introducing our children to a range of significant photographs taken since the invention of the first camera in 1840 by Alexander Wolcott. 

Following this, we looked into the history and development of the camera and invited an expert photographer, Steve Nightingale, to visit the pupils and teach them about the art of photography and how to take an effective photograph. They developed their sketching skills and created some outstanding drawings of cameras throughout history. 

The pupils then studied other technological advances over time, which were captured on film, and studied the social impact that they had on life at the time. 

We then investigated significant photographs showing the human race’s fight against inequality, including the Suffragettes and those who fought for racial equality, such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. Local businessman, Jojo Brown, visited the children and delivered a workshop based on diversity and inclusion. 

The pupils then produced amazing artwork illustrating these iconic historical moments and wrote non-chronological reports describing the event, some of which are featured in this calendar.