In this feature we visit a London primary school to hear about a very unusual new piece of playground equipment!

The Michael Faraday School is in the middle of a large council estate in South London. The children there now have a huge camera obscura in the playground. A camera obscura is a small, dark room into which an image of what is outside is projected using a small hole or lens. The children worked with a group of local architects to design their camera obscura.

Before you listen, look at these comprehension questions. You'll hear the answers during the programme.

1: What is this unusual, new camera obscura made from?
2: What does the term 'camera obscura' mean in Latin?

Listen
	Camera obscura

You can download the script and audio for this programme from the 'Extras' section below.

Vocabulary

council estate
a group of houses or flats built by the government and available at a reduced rent

to stick
to stay in the mind, to be memorable

to make a lot of sense
to be sensible, to be worthwhile

to go back to basics
to focus on the most important and essential part of something

aperture
an opening in a camera or microscope, for example, that lets light pass through a mirror

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Extras:
Programme script (pdf - 21 k)
Download this programme (mp3 - 2 mb)