Lives explores the story of human resilience and perseverance. Middle school teacher Donald Rose uses the Migrant Mother photos by Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange to help students understand what elements a photographer chooses to focus on to create the greatest impact. Historian Linda Gordon, biographer of FSA photographer Dorothea Lange reveals Lange's role in engaging Americans in the plight of those who were most devastated. New Orleans documentary photographers Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick talk about the transformation of their photographs after Hurricane Katrina and working with young photographers to preserve the city's cultural heritage. About the series: A multidisciplinary professional development course for middle and high school teachers in English language arts, social studies, mathematics and science; 5 video programs; 11 curated photo collections with background text, classroom activities, and additional resources. A multidisciplinary resource for middle and high school teachers, Essential Lens: Analyzing Photographs Across the Curriculum seeks to inspire teachers to use photographs and photographic ephemera with their teaching, and provides practical methods to facilitate the use of these materials in classroom settings across disciplines. Essential Lens introduces teachers to the richness of photographs as curricular tools. The course resources include five videos that introduce the ways photographic images impact our lives and what we know about the world and its history. On the course website, 11 curated photo collections with more than 250 rights-cleared photographs for classroom use include background information and detailed thematic classroom activity plans. Essential Lens provides everything a teacher needs to begin using photographs to engage students in deeper understanding and learning of a range of subjects from history to biology. Produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting. © 2015.