Unit 3
Marvelous Machine
Viewing “Marvellous Machines”
Determining students’ prior knowledge about the subject content of the media text:
1. Have a pair of scissors (or another example of a lever), a small toy vehicle (or another example of wheel and axle), a ramp made of a board (e.g., bookshelf board with one end up on a stack of books) and a simple pulley (e.g., a clothesline pulley) on display for all to see. (Other examples of pulleys that may be available in or around the school could be on window blinds or a flag pole; other examples of ramps could be a wheelchair ramp in the school.)
2. Hold up or point to each item and ask the students to describe the movement on each one. (e.g., scissors – back and forth, in and out, two handles turn on a centre point; toy vehicle – back and forth, backwards and forward, wheels go round and round when they are pushed or pulled; ramp – up and down, flat objects could slide up or down if they are pushed or pulled or they could roll down on their own if they are round; pulley – moves up and down or back and forth, a rope goes around a wheel)
3. Tell the students that these are examples of “Simple Machines” and record this term for all to see. Tell them that some examples of simple machines are such things as levers (scissor example), wheel and axle (toy vehicle example), inclined planes (ramp example) and pulleys (clothesline pulley example).
4. Record “lever”, “wheel and axle”, “inclined plane”, and “pulley” under the title “Simple Machines”.
5. Now ask the students to tell you why they think humans invented machines. What do machines do for us? (Elicit discussion to include such ideas as: machines enable us to do a task or piece of work with less effort on our part; they do lots of work for us; they do work that would be too hard for us; and so on.)
Helping students focus on the video as they view it:
1. After this discussion say, “We are going to watch a Photo Story called ‘Marvellous Machines’ about simple machines in our lives. I want you to watch and listen carefully to find out what simple machines are used as examples in the Photo Story and how they move. I also want you to think about how these simple machines help us.”
2. Have the students view “Marvellous Machines”. You may wish to stop the video clip during the viewing to hold discussions about the above; or, you may choose to view it once through, then view it a second time, stopping for discussion throughout.
Helping students apply and reflect on the concepts:
1. Use the “Sample Guiding Questions” below to guide discussion to help students reflect on the media text. Many of these questions are directly referenced from the Photo Story while others require inference and/or extended thinking based on the Photo Story, as well as their own life experiences and knowledge.
2. Record student responses to question a) through c) under the first three headings below and questions d) and e) under the fourth and fifth ones.
3. Use these Teacher Prompts (and sample responses) to promote discussion of the following media literacy connections:
• Who would watch “Marvellous Machines”? (e.g., children and some adults.) Why? (e.g., it teaches us to think about machines in the world around us that we don’t always pay much attention to; it makes us think about how these machines help people with their work; it helps us think about how these machines could also be harmful and so we need to be careful when we use them)
• What message do you think the photographer wants to tell us with this story? Overt message: Simple machines help us and make our lives easier. Implied message: Sometimes simple machines can be harmful to us.
• Do you think some of the information in “Marvellous Machines” would be interesting to your parents or other adults in your home? Why or why not? (Allow a variety of responses here. Some students may feel their parents would learn a lot about simple machines and how they are all around us; others may feel their parents would already know this and so would not want to see it; still others may feel their parents know about it but would still be interested in parts of the Photo Story.)
• This is a story about machines that move, yet still life photographs were used. Describe some ways the photographer makes the simple machines seem like they are moving. (e.g., there was movement across or from one side of a photo to the other; there was slow movement up close and then far away; there was fast music in the background) How do these techniques help the Photo Story? (e.g., it makes it more interesting to watch; it makes it look as though the machines are really moving; the fast music makes us think of fast moving machines)
back
|