Preparatory
work
Prior to this lesson talk to the class about what it means to do an enquiry.
Explain that the enquiry is carefully structured in five stages See QCA
History Unit 13 Stages of an Enquiry Enquiry.doc
The teacher could create a poster or flow chart, with the pupils, to put
on the wall, that shows each stage of the enquiry for the pupils to refer
to whilst they are working.
It is not necessary to tell the pupils at this stage the subject of the
enquiry.
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The Lesson
Whole Class Teaching
Introduce the main question:
How has cinema attendance changed since 1948?
Give the pupil a few minutes to discuss with their response partner:
- What would I like to know?
The teacher collates the information either on a whiteboard, flip chart
or using a mind map program e.g. Inspiration or similar.
Show the children the film clip "cinema
of tomorrow today.wmv" from Pathe News included on the CD showing
the Bristol cinema which opened in 1964 outlining some of the "new"
features of cinemas. (Other similar clips can be found at http://www.itnarchive.com/britishpathe/)
Pupils should make notes about the facilities and style of this "new"
cinema while watching the video clip.
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Main Activity
Teacher now explains the main activity. Pupils, working in pairs on the
computers, will research the change in cinema attendance over the past
fifty years and the brief recovery in the past twenty years. Teacher explains
to the pupils the outcome of this unit will be for pupils to produce a
PowerPoint presentation of trends in cinema attendance.
Pupils should visit www.statistics.gov.uk,
enter "Cinema" in the search box at the top left hand side of
the screen and select the option Cinema Admissions, 1951 - 1998: Social
Trends 30 where they will find figures for UK cinema attendance since
1951.
Pupils should download the csv file, open it in a spreadsheet package
and save it. Pupils can use the statistics to produce a graph to illustrate
the trend. Pupils should save their graph for use in their presentation.
Pupils should also read the text at the bottom of the web page which provides
some explanations concerning the trend in attendance.
The teacher should draw the pupils back together to discuss their findings.
(Stage 2 of the enquiry process)
Q. What do these figures and the graph tell us about cinema attendance
over the past fifty years?
Q Why do you think cinema attendance fell so dramatically in the period
1951 to 1981?
Cinema admissions declined sharply from the 1.4 billion in 1951, to reach
a low of 53 million in 1984. This fall was probably influenced by the
advent of television, and later of video recorders. Over the next decade,
however, cinema admissions rose, and were 123 million in 1998. This revival
may be related to the investment and expansion in multiplex cinemas in
recent years.
The teacher should discuss and record pupils' findings
Prior to showing the second video clip, prompt the children to look at
the age of those waiting in the queues and the different kind of facilities
available. (Stage 3 of the enquiry.)
Teacher shows the second video clip "Crowds
return to the cinema." which dates from 1961. (Teachers can pause
the video clip at any time to prompt discussion and focus pupils if they
wish.)
Prompt pupils to take notes of their observations of the film clip and
their answers to the following questions.
Q What do pupils notice about the age of people waiting?
Pupils may suggest: mainly 20 - 40 age bracket and very few children
Q What different sorts of facilities were on offer in this clip?
Pupils may suggest: different seating options at different prices, different
queues for different prices
.
Q Why were there queues?
Pupils may suggest: No advance booking, no online or automated ticket
facilities.
Send pupils back to the computers in pairs and ask them to visit the statistics
website www.statistics.gov.uk
In order to investigate the age of those visiting the cinema from 1984
to 2001 they will need to enter "Cinema" in the search box at
the top left of the screen. From the list returned select: Cinema attendance:
by age, 1984 - 2001: Social Trends 33
Q What conclusions can you draw from the graph?
Pupils may suggest that: cinema attendance is increasing in all age ranges
and that is mainly younger people attending. The pupils should save the
spreadsheet for later use in their presentation.
Pupils now need to research modern cinema facilities by visiting www.ugccinemas.co.uk
or use a search engine to find their local cinema. They should make a
note of facilities that are available in modern cinemas e.g. advance booking,
disabled access, snacks, parking etc.
Pupils, working in pairs create a PowerPoint presentation to illustrate
the changes in cinema attendance in the past 50 years. They should amalgamate
all the resources, including the video clips, if possible into a well
structured presentation for a group of visitors who would be old enough
to remember cinemas in the 1950s. They should explain the relevance of
each source and the conclusions that they are able to draw from them.
Pupils should be reminded to concentrate on the content of their presentation,
possibly using the outline view, before any changes of font, colour, animations
etc. take place.
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Plenary
(Stage 4 of the enquiry)
Remind the pupils of the discussion at the outset of this unit of work
where they brainstormed with their response partner. What they knew or
wanted to find out about cinema attendance over the past 50 years. Starting
with the recorded information on the whiteboard, flip chart or mind map
now note the key points that they have learned as a result of this enquiry.
(Stage 5 of the enquiry)
Ask the pupils what else they want to find out about cinemas over the
past 50 years. Can they suggest other sources of information which would
help them in their enquiry? Pupils may suggest inviting a visitor who
would remember cinemas in the 1950s to visit the school in a later session.
Pupils should add a final slide to their presentation listing 3 or 4 questions
that a visitor might be able to answer for them.
Why use ICT
This research could not have been carried out without access to the resources
available on the Internet. The video clips provide first hand evidence.
ICT allows pupils to combine and amalgamate evidence from different sources
e.g. statistics to substantiate and present their conclusions.
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