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Lesson 2

Photo Editing and Photo Index (Thumbnail Prints)

Materials:

Photo editing software (I use Microsoft Photo Editor), Microsoft Word (or other comparable word processing software), color printer and floppy disks.

Background:

First we edit photographs that we have taken for our projects, then I have my students create a photo index of thumbnail prints to keep labeled in a binder for future use. Each page has the contents of one floppy disk in the form of thumbnail prints and file name. These pages and their corresponding diskette are dated and numbered. When we need a photograph for a project we go look in the binder for what we need.

This lesson is presented to a small group of students, two to four, who then become the experts and have the responsibility to teach the rest of their classmates the procedures.

Before beginning this lesson the students involved need to have a floppy disk with unedited photographs.

Objectives:

To edit a photograph by cropping it and changing the color and contrast values to get a better looking picture.
To name a photograph (file) for easy reference.
To catalog the photographs on a floppy disk.
To organize a group of photographs for future use.

Estimated Time:

15 - 20 minutes with each small group for each of the procedures (15 for editing, 15 for indexing). After that you need to allow time for the expert to teach others and be available for questions.

Vocabulary:

Toolbar, scroll down, edit, autobalance, insert, crop, select, (disk) drive, floppy (diskette), index, image.

Procedure:

Photo Editing

1. Start by having the students insert the disk into the drive and open the photo editing program (Microsoft Photo Editor).
2. Teach the procedure for opening a file from the appropriate drive. In our case it is the A drive:

go to open file
select drive "a" (floppy) in the "Look in:" field
select the first (untitled) file in the menu (I go in the order they are on the disk)

3. Show the students how to use the tool bar menu and the pull down menu titled "Image" to crop a picture:

select the cropping tool button (looks like a dotted square
click and drag the mouse across the photograph to select the desired area ( let the kids do this several times to get the feeling of it before actually cropping it)
once the area is selected click on "Image" on the menu bar...go down to crop...release the mouse button and click on ok

4. Show the students how to use the "autobalance" tool from the "Image" pull down menu:

click on image...go down to autobalance and release the mouse button (this changes the color/contrast value of the photograph (after the students have mastered all of the other steps I teach them how to change the color, brightness and contrast manually)
go to edit...down to undo autobalance and release
let the students go back and forth this way to evaluate whether they like it better with or without the autobalance

5. Save the photo file and rename it (I rename the file to save disk space, but you can have the students name the file by saving as...)

click on the save icon (floppy) or go to file...save and click ok
right click the mouse over the name of the file that has just been edited...go down to rename
type the new name in the box and click ok

6. Have the students edit all the photos on their disk before going on to making the index page of thumbnail prints.
7. If the students are going to continue with the index page on another occasion have them eject their disk and close the program, otherwise continue with the procedure.

Note: Click here for an online tutorial on photo editing that I created for my students in case they forget the procedure (you can have it running under/by the photo editing program for help).

Photo Index Page (Thumbnail Prints)

1. Insert the floppy disk with photos into the A drive.
2. Open a new Microsoft Word document.
3. Open your photo editing software program (Photo Editor).
4. Click on "open file"
5. Select the A drive.
6. Make a screen shot of the contents of the floppy:

depress the "Print Screen" key
go to the Word document and click on paste

7. Crop and resize your screen shot:

click on the image to get the editing features (black line around the image and squares at the corners, etc.)
click on the cropping tool and select only the area with the information on the contents of the floppy
size it to where it is easy to read
position it where you want it on the page

8. Type the floppy information such as disk number and date or a name.
9. insert the photos into the document in the order they appear on your screen shot of the contents (this way you can know which file is what) (or type the name of each photo as it appears on the floppy under the graphic and skip the screen shot step)
10. Shrink the size of the photos as you go along to keep them all on one page if possible.
11. Save and/or print your page ( I recommend that you do both).

Assessment:

Rubric:

4 points   Completed independently
3 points   Completed with the help of a peer expert
2 points   Completed with the help of the teacher
1 point     Completed partially
0 points    Did not participate

Resources:

Garden sites

Kids Gardening http://kidsgardening.com/

Gardening For Kids http://geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Glade/3313/

Kids Gardening Resources http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/county/smith/kids.html

KinderGarden http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/kinder.htm

Kid's Valley Webgarden http://arnprior.com/kidsgarden/

Gardening for Kids.Garden Link Database http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/kids.html

http://mastergardenproducts.com/kidsgarden/

Plant Doctor http://plantdoctor.org/index.html

Growing a pineapple at home http://lofthouse.com/hobby/garden/pineapple.html

Van Dyck's Gardening with kids http://vandycks.com/kids/04-2001/index.htm