Manzanar Internment Camp
In this lesson we will explore various images of the Manzanar Internment Camp taken by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and Toyo Miyatake. Students will watch segments of the episode and engage with up to seven photographs to collect evidence of how these photographers attempted to shape the public opinion of Japanese internment camps.
Students will then judge how successful these photographers were at shaping the narrative around Japanese relocation and internment.
Access Lesson Plan
or
Download PDF
Lesson: How does the media shape public opinion
Content Standards
12.8: Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life.
12.8.1: Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press.
12.8.2: Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the Internet, as means of communication in American politics.
12.8.3: Explain how public officials use the media to communicate with the citizenry and to shape public opinion.
CCSS Standards
RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
RH.11-12.6: Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
SL.11-12.2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
The Lost LA Curriculum project is a collaboration among PBS SoCal, USC Libraries, the UCLA History-Geography Project and the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.
