In this science lesson we examine what a robot is, how robots are designed and some of the functions they perform for us. There are opportunities for students to discuss their own robots and to design a robot to perform a function of their choice. More able groups could even start a Raspberry Pi club to design a functioning programmable robot of their own.
Students could look at some of the ethical concerns with robots, including jobs and employment, as well as sentient robots and how you could tell if you were speaking to a robot (introducing the Turing test). Finally we will look at the risks that are posed to humanity by robots and evaluate whether films such as The Terminator, I, Robot and Ex Machina raise real concerns about how robots should be created and used.
