4. I, Robot

RE: Share your classroom ideas here

2017-04-30T23:01:55Z

Activity 1 (6 hours)
The students will work in groups of 3 on the next topics
-Robots: early beginnings
-Robots in the 19 th century
-Robots in the 20 th century
-Robots nowadays
-Robots in the space
-Industrial robots
-Humanoid robots
-Robots in literature
-Robots in movies

Each group will make researches on the topic and will create a Padlet which will contain different informations including the documents and presentations they created, videos and links for this subjects. Posters and infographics will be created too. For better results in collaboration the students will use GoogleDocs.The groups will present their work in front of the classroom.Each group will create a quiz in Google Forms and all the students will answer the questions . The teacher will create an evaluation form and each group will be grading others groups work.

Activity 2 (2 hours)

Starting from the 3 laws of robotics formulated by Asimov and the Tedex video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KaGZhB0WkI students will debate about the future of robots and if we should be afraid by robots evolution.

Practical activity (12 hours)
The students will create a robotic hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLxWBVZ25rk using the Microsoft Education lesson plan https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=D1EAAFC0BDFA320E!1171&ithint=onenote%2c&app=OneNote&authkey=!AByHJXUeyR8LDRM . We have the list with the materials needed ,too (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/education-workshop/january.aspx) .

RE: I Robot

2017-04-30T17:51:09Z

Thank you so much for sharing Nectara It is interesting how you manage to make the lesson plan cross-curricular, so it also challanges ethical, historical and social issues in addition to those that are purely technological or engineering.

RE: We, Robot

2017-04-30T17:47:17Z

Ok, excellent, thank you for sharing Yoni this very interesting lesson plan

RE: I, Robot - Pre- and post-reading tasks

2017-04-30T14:26:59Z

Hello Daniela!

Very complete and interesting Activity based on "I, Robot" - Congratulations! You had a lot of work, and, for sure, I'll "study" your ideas before start my work with students about the book!

About what Asimov could guess (the premonitions...), I found very curious the asteroid mining by big robots, because last year I was with some students at Web summit, Lisbon, “sponsored” by Planetary Resources (http://www.planetaryresources.com/#home-intro ), an US enterprise that has the same goal! And, last year too, a student of mine presented a work about microrobots at her coleagues, in class (because of High Tech Electrical Engines they sould choose to aply some basic eletricity concepts)!

RE: Share your classroom ideas here

2017-04-30T13:14:30Z

FreedomOh what a pleasure
Not fulfill a duty,
Having a book to read
And not doing it!
To read is a bore,
To study is nothing.
The sun shines
Without literature
The river flows, good or bad,
Without original edition.
And the breeze, that one,
Is so naturally matutinal,
As time has no hurry...

Books are papers painted with ink.
To study is a thing that is indistinct
The distinction between anything and nothing.

So much better, as there is fog,
To wait for King Sebastian,
Whether he comes or not!

Great is poetry, the kindness and the dances...
But the world's best are the children,

Flowers, music, the moonlight and the sun, who sins
Only when, instead of creating, dries.

More than that
It is Jesus Christ,
Who knew nothing about finance
And there is no evidence that he had a library...

Fernando Pessoa, in 'Songbook'
(Copy from http://www.wordsandquotes.com/poem/freedom-fernando-pessoa)

Before writing this post, I thought I had to speak about Pessoa, my favorite Portuguese Poet: so lucky me – The Poem Liberty, talks about the freedom of having a book to read and just don’t do it, and about children! (And much, much more…). So, I couldn’t finish to read “I, Robot!”, from Asimov, (a little bit because I was lazy J!), but what I read, the first 4 Chapters, are enough to see it’s a great book for my youngest students, who are still a little bit children (like all of us!).
I have to confess the English version of the book, I bought last Wednesday, was not very easy to read for me, in a rapid way, so I had to take, to be fast, a PDF document, translated to Portuguese by a Brazilian (http://www.planonacionaldeleitura.gov.pt/clubedeleituras/upload/e_livros/clle000024.pdf)
As Literature is about language, I have to say that the written Portuguese, is very different, in Portugal and Brazil (I prefer the European written Portuguese…). The spoken Portuguese, is also very different (as all foreigners can hear!), but, for me, Portuguese from Brazil is the most beautiful spoken language, it has so much musicality that Brazilian songs, written by great Brazilian Poets, can’t be unknown! (Our Portuguese Fado is very nice too!)
One of the activities I propose, for “I, robot!”, is precisely based on a video clip of Chico Buarque, a Brazilian singer (writer and composer!) of Freedom – João e Maria (“Hansel and Gretel”, a possible translation…). You can see, please, the video clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=596g2wg4uXQ and an English translation of the lyrics here http://lyricstranslate.com/en/jo%C3%A3o-e-maria-hansel-and-gretel.html . It’s a “Love Song”, but it’s written in “Childish Language”. It starts with “Now, I was the hero…”, a typical expression children use when they play pretending they are someone else…
So, the first Project Activity I propose would start with the reading of one chapter of “I, robot”, in Portuguese Language, or English (students could practice their English…), exploited in the lessons of the Portuguese or English by the Language Teachers (“I, robot!” is included in our “National Plan of Reading”, to improve reading habits in our students). In Science Classes (namely Physics and Chemistry) students would exploit the scientific references of the story: for example, the text, from “Runaround” Chapter - “The robots started off, the regular thudding of their footsteps silent in the airlessness, for the nonmetallic fabric of the insosuits did not transmit sound. There was only a rhythmic vibration just below the border of actual hearing.” – it´s amazing to exploit a lot of acoustic concepts … And the book is full of other physics (astronomy) and chemistry references... Finally, with the help of Computer and Art Teachers, students would do a video clip, telling the story of the chapter they exploited, relating it, of course, with a scientific subject… To motivate for the “I, robot video clip”, students could get inspired too in “One Minute Physics” little “movies” – See, for example, this one “Guns in space” – not a one minute one, but very interesting when we talk about “I, robot”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYf6av21x5c.

The other activity I propose, and I’ll try to do it with my 8 th grade students next time, it’s to use Lego Robots, to exploit Optics: “How Does a Robot see”, is the name I choose for the activity. To get motivated for robotics, students are invited to read the book, and, or, see the movie based on it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film) ) and after, they will do a little program for the Lego Robot to move, based on color sensors. In fact, I already asked some students to see the movie (they haven’t heard about it, but they get enthusiastic to watch it at home…), to try to involve them to start programing with Lego Robots. With this activity, I would like to initiate students (and me J!) in Programming and make them learn a little bit more about the physics of color sensors…
I tried to see the “I, robotics” movie myself and it was not available at my “home video club”, but, what I read of the Asimov Book was already enough to understand that it has a lot of potentiality to develop SETAM educational activities. As a Physics Teacher, I consider the 3 Asimov Laws of robotics, can be compared with the 3 Newton Laws, in a scientific way as they include, in my humble opinion, the bases of Programming Languages, as Newton Laws determine the Mechanics of robots… But, maybe more important, they can be exploited in an humanistic way to discuss our fictional existences, as our, great Poet, Fernando Pessoa, does with is heteronymous… As Fernando Pessoa was a bilingual poet (he lived part of his childhood in South Africa) I finish my post with an English Poem:
How Many Masks Wear WeHow many masks wear we, and undermasks,
Upon our countenance of soul, and when,
If for self-sport the soul itself unmasks,
Knows it the last mask off and the face plain?
The true mask feels no inside to the mask
But looks out of the mask by co-masked eyes.
Whatever consciousness begins the task
The task's accepted use to sleepness ties.
Like a child frighted by its mirrored faces,
Our souls, that children are, being thought-losing,
Foist otherness upon their seen grimaces
And get a whole world on their forgot causing;
And, when a thought would unmask our soul's masking,
Itself goes not unmasked to the unmasking.

Fernando Pessoa, in 'English Poetry - 35 sonnets'

RE: We, Robot

2017-04-30T10:52:34Z

Thank you,
The age of students is 10 years or older. So the PA has been able to handle the mission.
The task can be adapted to a wide range of levels and skills. Young or low-level students will design a robot model. High-level students will be able to actually build and program a robot from whatever possibilities are available at the school.

I, Robot - Pre- and post-reading tasks

2017-04-28T16:58:19Z

I believe science fiction has always induced human mind to pursue scientific aims considered only hypothetical before. I am a teacher of English as a foreign language at a secondary school (students aged 11-19), and I have always tried to inspire my learners to engage more thoroughly with STEM subjects using science fiction stories (abridged at times, depending on their level of English).
Isaac Asimov is one of my favourite science fiction authors, and what I best admire about him is his never-ending enthusiasm, but also his ability to make us readers see the world from a different point of view while exploring concepts of society and technology with all their consequences.
I have prepared a learning unit on "I, Robot", supported by tasks to be done on the computer connected to the Internet available here: http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/. Various activities come together to integrate technology in the classroom. I have devised the tasks with great care, and I am set to keep adding to the site to make it even more useful. A wide array of apps have been used so far to develop the activities presented, such as: Padlet, Answer Garden, Hot Potatoes, My Language Exchange, Study Stack, Word Art, Learning Apps, Jigsaw Planet.
The scheme comprises pre- and post-reading activities. The students are asked to work as a whole class, in groups, in pairs or individually. The objectives range from improving each of the 4 main skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), opening towards creative thinking, encouraging critical thinking to increasing familiarity with vocabulary items for meaning-making, understanding the importance of key-words, recreational problem solving, expressing opinions and bridging the gap between work and play.
All the 16 activities of the learning unit are described in the Teacher’s Guide I am attaching. In short, my ideas for the Scientix competition are as follows:

Before reading:
As a lead-in activity, students go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/unravel-a-puzzle.html and individually move the pieces of the puzzle to position them in relation to one another to have them connect and form the cover of the first edition of the “I, Robot” collection. Next, students bounce ideas off one another and seek information, explanations and advice about the Frankenstein complex nowadays. Isaac Asimov said he wrote the stories in order to get away from the Frankenstein complex – the worry that technology (especially robots) would destroy humanity. Does this complex still exist today? Are people still afraid of technology and what it might lead to? Students provide examples, descriptions, predictions etc. Next, students go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/girls-in-science.html and collect examples of names of women scientists and women writers (science fiction was invented by a woman, Mary Shelley...) in the real world, and interesting women characters in fiction. They also add descriptions of life and achievements, pictures, links etc.

After reading:
In pairs, students pick a scene from the framing narrative and act it out.
Next, they go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/about-robbie.html and individually solve a crosswords puzzle by filling in empty spaces with words that best complete the summary of the story “Robbie”. After that, they each imagine they are Gloria, Mrs Weston or Mr Weston and write a thank-you note to Mr Struthers a day after the Westons’ visit at US Robots following their reading of famous thank-you notes here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/29959/11-amazing-thank-you-notes-famous-people.
To get the summary of the story “Reason”, students go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/about-reason.html and individually fill in each gap with the most suitable words.
Students then practise writing monologues – Gregory Powell’s thoughts when Michael Donovan left to get their spacesuits so that they could enter the mine in “Catch that rabbit”.
Students then go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/about-evidence.html and each uses the cards to study/recall “Evidence” with auto play, and then plays to see how many they know by putting them in the Know or Don't know stacks.
Students go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/the-three-laws.html to see a model of a word cloud, then go to WordArt https://wordart.com/ and individually turn the 3 robot laws into a visually stunning word cloud of their own.
Students then go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/robots-and-humans.html and individually match characters and descriptions.
Next they go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/favourite-robot.html and individually vote for their favourite robot.
Students go to http://susanisaacandtherobots.weebly.com/play-hangman.html and individually play Hangman to guess a verb invented by Isaac Asimov.
As a whole class discussion, students talk about how different people deal with science and the unknown, and then about the connections nowadays between science and the world of work and daily life.
In groups, as a wrap-up task, students search for YouTube video clips that could stand proof to Isaac Asimov’s premonition that children in the 21st century might form intense emotional attachments to electronics, like in “Robbie”, and present their findings to the class.

I hope you like my ideas and will use my site with your students.
Thank you.
Daniela.

I Robot

2017-04-27T18:06:51Z

Hello
My name is Nectara Mircioaga. I teach Tehnology in Tehnological High School "Constantin Brancusi".
I chose I robot by Isaac Asimov.
Students are aware of the achievements of the impact of technology on human lives and apply their technical knowledge. Students will be able to develop XXI skills, such as scientific literacy, creativity, communication, collaboration, curiosity, initiatives, social and cultural awareness, engineering skills and programming.
First we'll have a brainstorm session on the 3 laws of robotics. Are they current? Could we add anything else?
Then we discuss about loopy simulation
http://bit.ly/2qbtMHg
We'll read the last chapter of Evitable Conflict and we'll look at how current it is today.
Here we will identify knowledge of geography, history and technology from the book.

Then we will split into groups and each group will have a robot to design.
First they will have to agree on the robot they are going to accomplish. How should it look? What does he have to do? In the framework of the lesson, the students will build a robot (with previous knowledge) inspired by what they choose and they will hsve to present and illustrate it.

We will use the Lego mindstorm kitThen we'll introduce our robot and its features.
Based on the Evidence chapter, we will discuss the ethical issues that can occur when building a robot.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/build-a-robot

RE: We, Robot

2017-04-27T11:50:45Z

Thank you Yoni for sharing your idea and lesson plan with us, very interesting, especially how you link it to the concept of STE(A)M! Your lesson seems to integrate many different elements in STEM education and critical thinking of students. Out of curiosity, how old should the students be in order to participate in your lesson? Do you think both very advanced and less advanced students could participate equally?

RE: Future books

2017-04-27T11:46:33Z

That's a very good question Irma. Did you find it difficult to find hard copies of these 8 books that Scientix selected for this discussion?

We, Robot

2017-04-25T13:51:52Z

Inspiring students ...
In the STEM classes I try to expose students to the issues of the impact of technology on humans. To inspire the students to think about what his world would look like in the future. And to deal with issues of ethics and science.

These topics can be discussed at any age according to the appropriate level.

I really liked the stories in the book and the fact that these are short stories, so it's easier for children to connect, and each group can read a story.
The class will be divided into nine groups, each group will receive a story, read it and discuss the story and events of the story.
Each group will have to plan how to present the story to the rest of the group when they have many means available.

In the framework of the play, the students will build a robot (with previous knowledge) inspired by the story that will help them to present and illustrate.

In this lesson, students will be able to develop engineering building skills, programming and excelling in front of an audience.
The lesson will also allow students to integrate the subject of art.

Future books

2017-04-23T16:18:14Z

I wonder if my daughter's children will have opportunity to read books in hard copies and enjoy reading as much as my daughter does so far.
We love such wonderful books which gives positive feelings

Share your classroom ideas here

2017-04-23T08:50:46Z

Use this thread to share your classroom ideas inspired by I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. Looking forward to hearing your ideas!