Fourth Grade Scavenger Hunt

Our first week back to school was the perfect opportunity to create a fun activity on perspective. The fourth grade went on a photo scavenger hunt created by the fourth grade. Students were grouped together and given two or three digital cameras per group with the mission of finding interesting objects around the school and photographing them. However, finding pictures of school objects would have been too easy for our savvy students, so instead the photos were extreme close-ups, further challenging their peers to identify what was in the photo. Once the students had their photos, they switched cameras with another group and the hunt was on to find what was in the picture.
In the process of the activity, our fourth graders learned how to use the digital cameras, including how to adjust for telephoto shots, how to adjust the flash and how to capture the image at the right distance for a clear shot. Students also had to look at common objects more closely, both taking the photos and finding the pictures. As students sought out the photos of their peers the discussions became intense about how things looked different in photos, for example how lighting can change the color of objects and what key features could they use to identify a match. One group attempted to take the same picture to insure they had the right objects.
After both groups had a chance to search out the items we regrouped to share our guesses and learn what was actually in the picture. Some of the photos were stumpers, but many were identified. Everyone enjoyed looking at the world a little differently.
What I like most about this activity is there are so many different concepts this process can support. We could have discussed how things appear different depending on how we view them, we could have discussed why students chose certain objects, how to best take pictures, design, how to problem solve. The scavenger hunt could have had more parameters such as objects that personify AFS, or fourth grade, or Lower School, or one of the Quaker testimonies. The pictures could have been clues to a larger puzzle. This activity is flexible and could be used across many grade levels. Kudos to our fourth grade team for developing the scavenger hunt. And thanks for inviting me to participate.
Here are just a few of the pictures taken by the fourth grade: