Cover lesson · Science · Year 8 · Intermediate

Storyboarding a video on photosynthesis

DCF: Producing → Creating digital content

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher: you need no subject knowledge

Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “Making a photosynthesis video”, one between two. Everything is planned on paper, so no computers or cameras are needed. Pupils need a pen and coloured pencils for the sketches.

Run: 3 min read the brief aloud · 6 min Step 1, the science check · 4 min Step 2, audience and purpose · 10 min Step 3, fix Gethin’s storyboard · 4 min Step 4, plan the order · 16 min Step 5, the storyboard · 5 min Step 6, timing and accessibility · 6 min Step 7, glossary and grammar check.

Collect: this sheet. Steps 2 to 6 are the digital planning. Steps 3 and 7, and the narration and caption columns in Step 5, show the pupil’s spelling, precise use of scientific words and grammar, so please make sure pupils write those in full sentences. The class teacher has a worked example with every answer.

What you are doing

A local primary school has asked your class to make a short explainer video about photosynthesis for its Year 6 pupils. It will go on the school’s website. Before anybody films anything, a video is planned on paper as a storyboard: a set of frames showing what is on screen, what the narrator says, what text appears and how long each part lasts. Today you will check the science, fix a weak storyboard written by a Year 8 pupil called Gethin, then plan your own.

Step 1: science check

Use the fact sheet on the stimulus sheet to complete the word equation for photosynthesis, including the two things written above the arrow.

Reactant	Reactant	Written above the arrow	Product	Product

(a) How does carbon dioxide get into a leaf?

(b) What does chlorophyll do, and where in the cell is it found?

(c) Give 3 ways a plant uses the glucose it makes.

(d) When do plants respire?

Step 2: audience and purpose

Question	My answer
Who will watch it, and what do they probably know already?
Where and how will they watch it? What does that mean for my video?
The 3 things they must understand by the end
3 scientific words I must explain, not just say

Step 3: fix Gethin’s storyboard

Gethin’s narration has 12 mistakes: 5 spelling mistakes, 4 science mistakes (a wrong or misused word) and 3 grammar mistakes. Find and correct at least 10. Write the whole corrected word or phrase.

Frame	What Gethin wrote	Correct version	Spelling, science or grammar?

(b) Using the video design guidance, give 3 problems with Gethin’s design (not his words) and how to fix each one.

(c) Frame 4’s narration has 31 words. At 2.5 words per second, how many seconds does it need? Gethin allowed 4 seconds. Show your working.

(d) His whole narration is 130 words. How long would his video really be? Does it meet the brief?

Step 4: plan the order

Give each frame one key message, in an order that makes sense to someone who has never heard of photosynthesis. Frame 1 must grab attention.

Frame	Key message	Shot type
1
2
3
4
5
6

Step 5: the storyboard

Sketch each frame in colour. Write the narration in full sentences, using word bank words spelt correctly. Keep each caption to 8 words or fewer. Count the narration words, then work out the seconds: words ÷ 2.5, rounded up, plus 1 second pause.

Frame	Sketch	Narration (what the voice says)	On-screen caption	Words / seconds
1
2
3
4
5
6

Step 6: timing and accessibility

(a) Total seconds for frames 1 to 6, plus 4 seconds for a credits card at the end. Is it 60 to 90 seconds? If not, say what you would add or cut.

(b) Plan for viewers who are deaf, hard of hearing or watching with the sound off.

Decision	My plan and why
Closed captions (subtitles)
Caption text colour and background colour
Text size and font

(c) Where will every image come from? Write the exact words for your credits card.

Step 7: glossary and grammar check

(a) The website will show a glossary under the video. Choose 5 terms from the word bank and explain each one in your own words for a Year 6 pupil, in one sentence of 15 words or fewer. Do not copy the fact sheet.

Term	What it means

(b) Underline every verb in your Step 5 narration. Check that each verb agrees with its subject (the leaves are, not the leaves is) and that you stay in the present tense. Copy one sentence you corrected, before and after. If nothing needed fixing, copy your longest sentence and explain why it is correct.

Step by step

3 min: Read the brief on the stimulus sheet. Underline what the video must include.
6 min: Step 1: complete the word equation and questions (a) to (d).
4 min: Step 2: decide on your audience and purpose.
10 min: Step 3: correct Gethin’s mistakes, then answer (b) to (d).
4 min: Step 4: give each frame one key message.
16 min: Step 5: sketch and write all 6 frames.
5 min: Step 6: add up the time and plan captions, colours and credits.
6 min: Step 7: write the glossary and check your grammar.

Success criteria

I can write the word equation for photosynthesis with light energy and chlorophyll above the arrow, and say what the plant does with the glucose.
I identified my audience and purpose, and my 6 frames follow a clear order with one key message each.
Every frame has a sketch, narration, a short caption and a timing, and I worked out from my word counts that the video lasts 60 to 90 seconds.
I planned captions, colour contrast and text size so everyone can follow the video, and every image is my own or free to reuse and is credited.
I corrected the spelling and misused scientific words in Gethin’s storyboard, and my own narration and captions use word bank terms precisely and spell them correctly.
My sentences are grammatically accurate (subjects and verbs agree, the tense stays the same), and my glossary explains 5 terms in my own words.

If you finish early

Plan a 7th frame explaining why photosynthesis matters to animals, including us. Write its narration and work out its timing.
Rewrite Gethin’s frame 5 narration so the science is correct and it takes no more than 8 seconds at 2.5 words per second.
A Year 6 pupil asks: “Why does a plant left in a dark cupboard die?” Answer in 2 sentences, using the words glucose and respiration.