Camera Vocabulary: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO

SubstitutePlans.com
Arts · Graphic Design / Photography
SP-GRAPH-006 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
Camera Vocabulary: Aperture, Shutter Speed
and ISO
Arts · Graphic Design / Photography · Grades 9-12 · 45 minutes
Time needed
45 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Write the three setting names on the board.
Technology
None. No cameras are needed.
Student
independence
High. Individual work with a short class check.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Whiteboard or chalkboard
Goal for today: Students will explain aperture, shutter speed and ISO, predict the effect of changing each, and
choose settings for given photo situations.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Write on the board: APERTURE = size of the lens opening. SHUTTER SPEED = how long light comes in. ISO =
how sensitive to light.
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk. You do not need to know anything about cameras.
Say this to start
Today is a camera vocabulary day, but no cameras are needed. Photographers control the amount of light with three
settings. You will read about them, match the words, choose settings for different pictures, and do a bit of math. Every
answer is in the passage or can be worked out from it.
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance. Hand out the worksheet and read the
three board definitions aloud.
Follow along and look at the worksheet.
5–13
Ask students to read the passage silently.
Read and underline what each setting does
to light.
13–21
Tell students to complete the matching (questions 1–4).
Match each term to its meaning.
21–30
Tell students to answer questions 5–8 and fill in the
trade-off table.
Choose settings and complete the table.
30–41
Tell students to do the two math questions (9–10), the
sketch (11) and the short answer (12). Tell them 1/500 is a
shorter time than 1/125.
Calculate, sketch and explain.
41–45
Read answers 1–10 from the key. Collect worksheets and
stack them.
Check their work and hand it in.

SubstitutePlans.com
Arts · Graphic Design / Photography
SP-GRAPH-006 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 3
If things go wrong
• If students say they have never used a camera, point out the passage defines every term and the board has
one-line meanings.
• If students are confused by the fractions, tell them a bigger bottom number means a shorter time (1/500 is
shorter than 1/125).
• If students ask whether the f-number is backward, tell them yes, it feels backward: a smaller number means a
bigger opening.
• If a student finishes early, use the early finisher list.
Early finishers
• Write a three-sentence guide for a beginner explaining which setting to change to freeze a moving subject.
• Draw two quick sketches of a bicycle rider: one with a very fast shutter and one with a very slow shutter, and
label the difference.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students use the passage for every answer and skip question 11.
• Challenge: Ask students to explain why a photographer might use a high ISO even though it adds grain.
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: