LESSON 1: Defining Goals and Identifying Audience for 90-second Video Stories

OVERVIEW

This is part of a five-lesson Science Communication Guide. Full guide and additional lessons coming soon.

Let’s begin this lesson by understanding the challenges it takes to distill complex scientific topics, and then ultimately translate them into digestible bite-size video stories. These stories should reflect how scientists have to frame their findings for various audiences and really look at how students have to consider their audience and critically in different perspectives, understand different knowledge levels and needs by zeroing in on communication goals. Students don’t just learn how to explain science, they ultimately take on the role of being science communicators and really recognize through their lives and work the power of the voice they have in STEM Fields.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will learn:

How to grasp and set clear goals for their videos.
The importance of aligning their messaging with specific science and public health goals. How to analyze and identify their target audience.
Skills to create really focused and engaging videos for their specific audiences. How to make a concept for a 90 second video that demonstrates their abilities to explain science topics.

PART 1: Setting Goals for 90-Second Video Stories

Things for students to think about when setting goals

Are you raising awareness about an environmental issue
Are you explaining an experiment?
Are you promoting a health solution?

Activity

Divide students into small teams, and then provide each student with the defining goals worksheet.
- Ask students to give clear and concise goals for their videos. The overall objective is to help students think about who their audience will be and how they wanna communicate their primary message.
- When ready, have the students share their goals with the class and receive feedback.
- After the activity, have a class discussion about why setting clear goals is critical, particularly for effective science videos.
  - Ask your students to think about how their chosen topics will influence the structure and content of their video.
  - Emphasize critical thinking, and gravity. Also, remind students their topic and goal related goal goals should guide every step of the process.
  - Show examples of where the goal for a video is clear and also show a video with an unclear goal. After viewing, discuss as a group.
    - Here are examples we like:
      - A video where the goal is clear.
      - A video where the goal is unclear.

PART 2: Identifying Your Audience for 90-Second Stories

For this lesson, each student should use these Identify Your Audience Worksheet 1 and Identify Your Audience Worksheet 2 to understand how to identify the primary audience for their topic. Ask your students to think about age, location, background, interest, and motivations for their target audiences.

Prompts to consider:
- Are you educating other students about a science topic?
- Are you informing parents or other adults about a public health initiative?
- Are you persuading community members to engage in a health solution?

After students have completed their worksheets, ask them to form small groups and discuss their strategies for identifying their audiences.

Encourage them to give feedback to each other.
Lead a discussion on how knowing audiences can impact the success of their videos and explain why different approaches are needed for different audience types.

EXIT TICKET

Ask your students to write an outline that explains how they plan to shape their video to fit their audience targets.

BONUS LESSONS

If you want to take a deeper dive, consider utilizing these lesson plans:
- Lesson: Explore Science Journalism and STEAM
- Lesson: Evidence and Experts
- Lesson: Research and Understanding
- Lesson: What Makes A Good Video Story

NGSS Standards

Middle School (6-8)

Human Biology
1. MS-LS1-8.
2. MS-LS1-7.
Environmental Studies
1. MS-LS1-6.
2. MS-LS2-1.
3. MS-LS2-3.
4. MS-LS2-4.

High School (9-12)

Human Biology
1. HS-LS1-2.
2. HS-LS1-3.
Environmental Studies
1. HS-LS2-4.
2. HS-LS2-5.
3. HS-LS2-6.
4. HS-LS2-7.

RESOURCES

Google Doc Version of this lesson

Bias

Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.

Source: Lexico, Powered by Oxford

Community

A group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood). It can also be a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc.

Source: Merriam Webster

Perception

Awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation or intuitive cognition. A capacity for comprehension and understanding.

Source: Merriam Webster

Relevance

People are attracted to information that helps them make good decisions. If you like music, you find musician interviews relevant. If you’re looking for a job, the business news is relevant. We need to depend on relevant information that helps us make decisions.

Audience

The people who read, watch and consume news. Often, journalists think about audience and newsworthiness in similar ways. How will the news story serve their local or national audience? Who am I writing the story for and why?

Script

A document with transcribed (written-out) soundbites and voiceover narration. A VIDEO script is a two-column document with the audio (soundbites and voice over) in the right-hand column and a description of what the audience sees (visuals) in the left-hand column.

Conflict

When violence strikes or when people argue about actions, events, ideas or policies, we care. Conflict and controversy attract our attention by highlighting problems or differences within the community or between groups. Sometimes conflict can be subtle and manifest as tension.

Empathy

The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. A generally definition is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. In media-making, creators can have empathy for their subjects and the audience can empathize with the characters.

Fact

Something that is known or proved to be true.

Research

An investigation into and study of sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Source

A source is an individual, company, document or more that can provide information to fuel a new story. In order for a story to be considered verified and to maintain a reputation as a news outlet, it is important to have a credible source.

Hook

An attempt to grab the reader or viewer’s attention with interesting information that will keep them reading or watching.

Feedback

After someone reviews your work, it is good practice to receive feedback, or an evaluation of your work based on certain standards. Feedback from multiple perspectives is an important part of the process. Masterpieces are rarely created in isolation.

Curiosity

A desire to learn and know about something or anything.

Determining Helpful Sources

Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of the sources. (NCSS D1.5.9-12)

Constructing Supporting Questions

Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a supporting question and explain how supporting questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge. (NCSS D1.3.9-12 - D1.4.9-12)

Creative Communicator

Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. (ISTE)

Reading - Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.7: Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10. 8 (Not applicable to literature)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.9: Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare).

Plan and deliver a media production (e.g., broadcast, video, web, mobile).

CCTC AR-JB 3.1: Analyze the elements of a newscast production.
CCTC AR-JB 3.2: Analyze individual announcing competence.
CCTC AR-JB 3.3: Identify wardrobe suitable for on-camera appearances.
CCTC AR-JB 3.4: Analyze production functions..
CCTC AR-JB 3.5: Demonstrate promoting productions.
CCTC AR-JB 3.6: Analyze how image capturing and graphics design support the development of electronic presentations.
CCTC AR-JB 3.7: Distinguish amongst various musical radio formats.

Speaking and Listening - Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Writing - Research to Build and Present Knowledge

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Writing - Text Types and Purposes

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Lesson | 2-3 Weeks