How Good of an Observer Are You?

Overview

How well can your students look at things with a critical eye? This activity provides your students with experience in remembering visual detail accurately.

What you need

• Activity 2.1 observer (datashow)

The approach

• Project the PowerPoint onto a screen that all students can see.
• There are four scenes for your students to observe.
• Show the first photo and let your students look at it for 30 seconds. Encourage them to look at everything they might see as important. Move on to the next slide for 30 seconds and then on to the third slide which lists a number of questions for them to answer about the scene. Get them to answer the questions.
• Once they have answered the questions move to the next slide (which repeats the photograph) and do a class straw vote on how many observations they correctly identified.
• Repeat the process with the next three scenes.
• Encourage your students to discuss techniques they use to remember the detail.

You may want to explore their ability to observe under different situations. For example, while they are talking to their neighbour; counting to 10 while watching the slide.

After viewing the photographs, ask your students the following questions:

1. How accurately could you remember detail?
2. What strategies can you use to remember visual detail?
3. Which photographs were the most difficult to remember detail?
4. What are the best conditions for observing accurately?

Seel Also

• Testing What Your Students Already Know
• Can You Trust Your Eyesight?
• What Can You See?

Attachment Gallery