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Endurance:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Out of the distance Students work in pairs to find a particular location with a large building or natural feature such as a tree, rock or hill in the background. Students compose the frame of the photograph by having a person in the foreground so that the person and the background object are the same height in the frame.

2. Point of View Students research different camera angles. Make a collage of images taken from different angles and label according to the reader’s point of view.

3. The Peloton Students work in groups of up to 10 to take digital photographs of the large group with all the members in close physical proxim-ity doing the same physical activity. The group will need to plan and rehearse the shot and the location and make changes to get the best image. Discuss which is the best image.

4. A team approach Students work in small groups to find images of teams. There needs to be an identifiable feature that shows the team belongs together, whether a uniform, activity, position or location. Share images with other groups and list the features that identify team images.

Teaching notes

PerspectiveThis image is made powerful by the position of the cyclists and the large distant hills in the single frame. On paper, the cyclist in the foreground measures about the same as the hill in the background even though their actual measurements are vastly different.

Camera Angles The camera angle is straight on i.e. it is at eye level. The point of view is one of equality. The viewer is positioned to believe that they could be part of this team.

UnisonThe peloton is a particular shaped group of road cyclists. This group has more protection from the wind and is important to the strategy of the race or event. Teams of cyclists work together in the peloton to save energy and be in the best position to win or compete in the event. Peloton photographs are striking as they are a large number of athletes in physical unison.

Unity and purposeThe riders in this image are travelling close together and wearing team uniforms. This show a unity of purpose. The Tour de Cure riders work together with the purpose of educating children and raising money for cancer research.

Follow up action:The Tour de Cure raises money to support various projects to fight cancer. One of these projects is TEAM (Treat Excise & Analyse for Melanoma) which aims to find the most effective ways to manage the treatment of melanoma. Sportspeople are very aware of sun protection if their sport is outdoors.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 1

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Head Health:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Helmets Students work in small groups and locate images that promote the use or sale of bike helmets. Each group selects their 3 top im-ages to discuss as a group and then selects one image to present to the class. Each group identifies and discusses how the image promotes safety and makes people want to wear a helmet.

2. Uniforms up close Students work in pairs to find images of sporting uniforms in close up view to show the detail of the fabric or the design. Have students find older and more recent versions of different uni-forms. Make a display of the printed images and possibly set up a ‘Which sport is this?’ guessing game.

3. Freezing movement Students work in pairs to photograph people playing sport. This may require multiple sessions as students check their work and techniques for capturing action. The students may have a class discussion after the first photo shoot to identify more effective techniques of capturing images. Students select their best images for a sport photo display. Discuss how to successfully capture movement in a photo.

4. Sponsors Students analyse the logos in this image. Identify which logos are in the more obvious positions. Groups of students discuss the symmetry and colouring of the uniform design and how the logos co-ordinate with the uniform design. In pairs, students design their own sport uniform.

Teaching notes

Using images to sellImages are used to sell products and messages. They may show the features of the product or cause the viewer to aspire to have and use the product. Experts, such as sporting champions, are also powerful images for selling products or messages.

Technology Images of sporting uniforms tell us that the people belong to a team and are designed to assist or protect. Advances in technology mean that uniforms have changed over the decades to improve performance.

Shutter speed Some digital cameras have a set shutter speed while others are able to be changed faster or more slowly. In sports photography, the faster the shutter speed, the sharper the focus and movement is ‘frozen’. A slower shutter speed will not capture movement so sharply and may be blurred. Some photographers deliberately slow the shutter speed to create effects and to keep the feeling of movement in the image.

Logos Brands have a logo which is an identifiable symbol that is compact so that it can be placed where it can be seen. Sporting gear and uniforms are now covered with logos of the main sponsors and other partners. Placing images in highly visible places in a repetetive fashion allows for greater recall.

Follow up action:As a result of what they have learned about keeping our heads safe and healthy, students find out about the work of Professor Charlie Teo at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney (RPAH) and the Cure for Life project. Information can be found on the website for Tour de Cure (Where will the money go?) and Cure for Life. Consider if this is a project that is relevant for your class or school to support.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 2

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Spokes in a Wheel:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Spokes in a wheelIn small groups, students collect images of wheels with spokes. Students make their own drawings of a bicycle wheel, collect pictures from magazines or print one from an internet search. Compare these images with the image in this activity by displaying them together or overlaying them.

2. Snap a shape Working in pairs, recreate this image using materials in your classroom or with natural or recycled materials that you collect. Once your group has captured the spoke image, try other shapes, regular and irregular.

3. Make shapes with peopleWorking in a small group or as a class, find a way to capture an image of people from above while they lie on the ground or floor. Work out how you will take the image and how you will safely get the people in and out of the area. Recreate the spoke shape and then make new shapes. Plan your shot sequence before you start.

4. Everything points to the middleDiscuss how this image directs the viewer’s eye to the centre of the page. Hve the students make up a key message that could be written here. In groups, search for company logos with a shape that directs the eye to the key message/company name.

Teaching notes

Cultural symbolsThe powerful spoke shape in this image is part of the culture of cycling and can be related to the main message of the image. The centre point of the image is an empty piece of green grass and each person is a line of a spoke radiating out beyond the border of the image.

Position By recreating the position and poses of people in the image, students will notice more about position and composition of the elements in the image. They will also use the descriptive language of position and how elements of the image relate to each other.

Viewing from aboveThis is an aerial perspective taken at medium range. It is interesting for the viewer as they don’t usually view from this perspective. It captures the cycling culture with the strong team nature of the sport. Students may find it interesting that the legs and feet are not in the image.

The centre is the focusThe spoke shape concentrates the eye to the middle. Using this in a poster or image can point the viewer to the main focus of the message. A text or image can be placed at the centre and can create awareness, ask a question or prompt action.

Follow up action:Tour de Cure also supports cancer prevention projects that are focused on education and awareness. Just as there are many spokes in a wheel, there are many groups who come together to help children with cancer. The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia works with the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium(I4C) with research involving over 1 million children around the world to find a preventable cause of childhood cancer.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 3

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Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 4

Tunnel of Hands:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Hands for encouragement Students collect images where hands are the focus. Sort the images and locate one that uses hands as an encouragement or to show how we can help others. Working individually or in pairs, make an image, artwork or drawing where hands are the focus and the main message is helping others.

2. TunnelsStudents identify images that have a tunnel, channel or lane effect. They can be found in sporting images at the finish line, on a racetrack, cars, or trains. Identify and mark on each image the line of travel and the direction. Students work in small groups to create their own digital photograph with a tunnel effect.

3. ContextStudents work in pairs with a digital camera and photograph the same subject from various points so that the image looks different. Students select two contrasting images and describe how the differences in position of the camera can change the image.

4. Many supporting oneStudents work in small groups of 3 to 5 and plan a photo shoot for an image that will have one unique component and repeated components. The image can feature the students, people or objects. The image needs to show how many (people or objects) can support one (person or object).

Teaching notes

Image and messageHands are often used in charity posters to symbolize how people can help others. This shows a direct link between a component of an image and the main message. It is also a way to put people in an image and in a message without using the whole image of a person.

Line The lines of children have a tunnel effect and their outstretched arms enable the viewer to feel the perspective of the image. The progression of the rider along the route is marked by a succession of hands and bodies. Perspective is also used to convey the passage of time or a journey.

Camera AngleCamera angle can change the context of a picture. Encourage students to consider the camera angle in pictures and videos and how this can influence their thoughts and reactions.

Single and multipleA single unique component of an image can often be placed in close proximity with a group of repetitive components. The cyclist is a single unique component and the hands, arms and bodies are repeated multiple times. The position of the single and multiple components can convey support or opposition.

Follow up action:As a result of what students have learned about lending a helping hand, find out about the work of the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia and the Sydney Children’s Hospital to improve outcomes for children with leukaemia. Visit their websites and the Tour de Cure website (Where does the money go?) and consider making a poster using the images of hands from these lessons to promote the work of people helping children with leukaemia.

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Going for Gold:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Gold Australia is sometimes known as the sunburnt country. Students work in groups to locate images that show Australia in particular ways: 1. The sunburnt country 2. The country of sunshine 3. The sporting colours of green and gold 4. Logos that feature gold

2. Riding into the distance Students make their own drawing of the image so that the perspective lines become clearer. Establish the vanishing point on the horizon for the road, fence and riders. The rays of the sun have another vanishing point in the circle of the sun.

3. Sunrise/sunset In pairs, students collect images that feature the sun in a particu-lar way. Different groups can focus on different categories. Each group assembles 10 images electronically:1. From ancient to modern2. Showing religious use of the sun3. Sunrise/sunset over water Ask the students: Is this image showing sunrise or sunset?

4. Time series Working in small groups, students capture images with a digital camera. Re-photograph the same outdoor scene or subject at various times of the day. Assemble the images in a time of day sequence (even if not taken on the same day) and identify the changes to the image made by the change of light. Each group presents their time series to the class.

Teaching notes

ColourThis image has a dominance of yellow, orange and brown, giving the image a gold, glowing and suntanned feel. The golden colour of the sun across the landscape matches with the orange grasses and uniforms of the riders. These are warm colours and the warmth of the image is reinforced by the relaxed appearance of the riders with the last rider’s head turned in conversation with a teammate.

Perspective The camera angle is at the same height as the riders. The viewer’s eye is drawn along the road and along the line of riders toward the horizon and the setting or rising sun. The fence also shows perspective and runs into the distance to the vanishing point on the horizon. The lines of perspective become the vectors of the image, the invisible lines that draw the eye.

The sun as an iconThe sun has been used as an iconic symbol in images for centuries. The sun features in ancient mosaics, religious paintings and modern artwork and photographs. Today, sunsets and shafts of sunlight through clouds can be considered as clichéd. This makes it very difficult for photographers to compose creative and original images using the sun.

LightCapturing images into a light source can be difficult particularly with digital cameras without manual settings. Experimenting with this allows students to realize the connection between light and focus. Taking photographs at various times of the day demonstrates how the angle of the light changes during the day and how this can change the mood of an image.

Follow up action:The Tour de Cure raises money to support various projects to fight cancer. One of these projects is through the Nelune Foundation to fund a brain tumour nurse to provide support services to over 300 children and their families per year. Consider photographing an image that features light and the number 300 to represent the number of families who will receive help this year.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 5

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The Chaos of Emotion:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Criss cross lines Students work in pairs with a printout of the image and draw on the image the directional lines of elements. These elements include arms, legs, trees and the tree branches. Students share their work with each other and identify and describe the pattern of the lines.

2. A moment in time Students work in groups of 2 or 3 and write a summary of the possible events just before and at the time this image was taken. Groups share their ideas and support their ideas with evidence from the image.

3. Emotion in arms Working in pairs, students locate images that feature arms as the main element linked to a particular emotion. They select 3 images that show different emotions and write a label for each image. Select the top 10 images and labels and display them where other students and classes can view them.

4. Invitation to join the group Students work in groups to create images displaying offer or de-mand (when someone in the image looks directly at the viewer). Share images and discuss their effects.

Teaching notes

VectorsThis image has elements that make criss cross lines all over the image. Vectors are the unseen lines in an image, but in this image they are visible in the physical elements. Vectors have the effect of drawing our eyes in particular directions such as up and down or side to side.

Context The physical elements of clothing and equipment tell a story of the context of this image. The location and emotion also give evidence of the possible time of the image and what has happened before the image was taken.

Body languageThe human body can convey strong messages. In this way an image can talk without speaking. Hands, arms, legs and stance can show emotion clearly and can also create strong lines in an image.

MoodOffer – When someone in an image does not look at the viewer, the viewer’s role is that of an invisible and detached onlooker. There is a sense of congratulation, relief and excitement amongst the participants in this image but the viewer is an onlooker. The viewer can be encouraged to become an active participant in order to experience these same emotions.

Follow up action:Tour de Cure supports the work of the Leukaemia Foundation to provide patient and carer ‘Specialist Conferences’. This supports patients and carers with information and emotional support that comes through attending a conference with other patients and carers.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 6

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Team Work:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1.Everything in order Students work in small groups to locate formal images of sport-ing teams from the internet, magazines or the local newspaper. Groups select images for a guessing competition “Name this sport”. Each group displays their selected images and classmembers go along the numbered images and record their guesses. Each group then reveals their answers.

2. Teams Teams are usually identified by their uniforms. Students bring from home pictures of their sporting teams. They share these pictures with the class and discuss the type of team and their part in the team.

3. Uniforms Students collect various sporting or other uniforms and photograph various elements of these uniforms. These may be best as close up images. Make a short slideshow of each uniform and then play the collated slideshow for the class.

4. Belonging Students work in pairs and photograph objects in the classroom or around the school that show that the objects belong to people and that these people belong together. Select three images to make a class display.

Teaching notes

FormalityThis image has a formal composition with the team riders in a line. There are some clear aspects of informality such as the riders choosing their own stance. Their purpose as a cycling team is clearly visible with the inclusion of the racing bike.

Team photographs Team photographs are often moments in time and become important memorabilia. Formal pictures rarely include detailed foregronds or backgrounds as the focus is on providing information on who and what was involved.

RepetitionUniforms have multiple elements that are repeated in images such as sponsor logos, coloured stripes and numbers. The repetition of these features of the uniform emphasises the team focus of the image. Repeated symbols are also visual cues that help people to make associations and remember them.

Repetitive elementsWhen a type of object is used by multiple people it is a powerful representation of how the users of the objects are similar. For example 3 images of 3 different pencils in the one location suggest that people are working on a similar task and belong to that situation or task.

Follow up action:All people like to belong to groups and to identify with them. Tour de Cure supports the ‘Tracey Scone Wig Library for Cancer patients’. This enables people who lose their hair through cancer treatment to be able to access a wig until their own hair regrows. Our hair is something we often take for granted and is part of our identity and our belonging.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 7

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All in a Line:The purpose of this series of tasks is for students to identify and describe components of an image and link this with the activity of bike riding and the charity work of Tour de Cure.

Learning Tasks

1. Line into the distance Students make their own hand drawing of this image so that the perspective lines become clearer. Establish the vanishing point for the road on the lower left part of the frame. Objects closer to the vanishing point are smaller and lines converge on the vanishing point. Include the trees, the roadside, the riders and the white lines on the road in the drawing. Students share their drawings with a partner and identify the vectors that draw the eye.

2. One by One Students work in small groups to line up rows of objects of the same size in a one by one line imitating the image of the cyclists. Materials can include dominoes, blocks, books, or pebbles. They take digital images of the trail of objects with the goal to showperspective, with the furthest objects appearing to get smaller.

3. A living lineStudents collect images that feature a trail across the image such as a banner, ribbon, a pathway, clouds, vines, powerlines, highways or waves. From these images, students plan and capture an image that features a trail for a class display.

4. Pathways Students work in small groups to identify pathways, walkways and stairs and photograph them to show perspective. A series of photographs can be taken with a person at various places along the path. Compare the photographs to identify the effect of perspective.

Teaching notes

PerspectiveThe components of this image clearly show perspective with the diminishing size of the riders the further back they are in the distance. In addition perspective lines are made vivid by linear elements such as the edge of the road and the bike handles. The viewer’s eye is drawn along the road and the line of riders toward the vanishing point on the horizon on the lower left of the image. The lines of perspective become the vectors of the image, the invisible lines that draw the eye.

Repetition and perspectivePerspective is seen clearly with either a single object that runsto a vanishing point, such as the roadway, or repeated objects ofthe same height, such as the cyclists appearing to get smaller thefurther they are from the camera lens.

TrailsThe cyclists form a trail across the image. Trails are usually fluid or float across the image. They can be objects or a mark left by a person, animal or object. They give a feeling of movement or freedom across the image.

Lines and linksThe lines made by pathways, roads or stairs in images link elements of the image and draw the eye along. Perspective elongates the perception of distance and creates a vast seep through the image.

Follow up action:The Tour de Cure raises money to support various projects to fight cancer. One of these projects is Foundation for Surgery where surgeons work with AUSaid to share their skills with doctors in other communities such as in Pacific Island nations and Papua New Guinea.

Visual Literacy Lessons Unit 8