S|ngu|ar|ty

Lesson |an
Level: 6
Lh
Crade
Class erlod: 44 MlnuLes
ueslgned for a class wlLh 20 sLudenLs
8y: !acquellne Carroll

8|g Idea: SlngularlLy

Art|st: CareLh 8ranwyn
Artworks:












I w||| be wr|t|ng ad[ustments |n th|s co|or. Cne very |mportant |esson I've |earned wh||e work|ng |n
a m|dd|e schoo| |s that students w||| ALWAS take |onger than your |esson p|an |n|t|a||y ant|c|pates.


kat|ona|e: ls Lhere an lmpendlng doom ln our fuLure? lf so, wlll we be ready for lL? 1he SlngularlLy
pro[ecL allows sLudenLs Lo Lake a sLep back and look upon Lhe amazlng aspecLs of humanlLy.
LlLeraLure LhroughouL Lhe years (lrankensLeln, 1he 8lble, eLc.) has shown deplcLlons of despondenL
endlngs afLer llfe has been produced ln Lhe lmage of lLs creaLor. 1hls lesson glves sLudenLs Lhe
opporLunlLy Lo creaLe someLhlng (a llfe, we shall say) LhaL ls fllled wlLh hope, benevolence and
lmporLance.

1he problem's plaln Lo see,
1oo much Lechnology,
Machlnes Lo save our llves,
Machlnes de-humanlze."
- SLyx

Lssent|a| uest|ons:
1. Why dld lsaac Aslmov feel lL was necessary Lo creaLe 1he Laws of 8oboLlcs?
2. uesplLe Lhe facL LhaL arLlflclal lnLelllgence may surpass human lnLelllgence, whaL ls lL LhaL seLs
humans aparL (ln Lurn, maklng Lhem superlor)?

Art uest|ons:
1. As arLlsLs/sclenLlsLs, whaL responslblllLy do we have when creaLlng?
2. ls arLlsLry reserved for Lhe human race?
rocedure: Mr. 8oboLo wlll be Lhe Loken song of Lhe day. ln facL, l wlll be playlng lL durlng every
passlng Llme (we||, that d|dn't happen, but we d|d ||sten to |t wh||e bra|nstorm|ng add|t|ona|
|aws of kobot|cs). 8efore sLudenLs enLer class, wrlLe Lhe Laws of 8oboLlcs on Lhe board:
1. A roboL may noL ln[ure a human belng or, Lhrough lnacLlon, allow a human belng Lo come
Lo harm.
2. A roboL musL obey Lhe order glven Lo lL by human belngs, excepL where such orders
would confllcL wlLh Lhe llrsL Law.
3. A roboL musL proLecL lLs own exlsLence as long as such proLecLlon does noL confllcL wlLh
Lhe llrsL or Second Laws.

Act|v|ty Cne (Lssent|a| uest|on Cne): When sLudenLs are slLuaLed ln Lhelr seaLs, begln 1lML
Magazlne's SlngularlLy vldeo:
hLLp://www.Llme.com/Llme/vldeo/player/0,32068,784887364001_2048332,00.hLml
When Lhe vldeo has concluded, ralse pro[ecLor screen Lo reveal Lhe Law of 8oboLlcs behlnd. Ask
sLudenLs whaL Lhey LhoughL abouL Lhe vldeo.
rob|ng uest|ons: WhaL was your flrsL lnsLlncL? uo you belleve our creaLlons would
rebel agalnsL us? lf so, do we see any parallels beLween Lhls Lheory and Lhe sLory of Cenesls?
uoes Lhls concepL scare you? uoes Lhls concepL exclLe you? Should we be Lhlnklng of roboLs
as properLy" or as equals? AlLhough Lhese machlnes may have Lhe lnLelllgence, whaL ls lL
LhaL seLs humans aparL? ls Lhe mlllLary prohlblLlng one of Lhe Laws of 8oboLlcs? !"# %&'()*+,

AL Lhls polnL, break class lnLo four groups of flve. Lxplaln Lo Lhem LhaL each group ls golng Lo have Lo
come up wlLh aL leasL Lhree more laws Lo add Lo Lhe llsL. We wlll dlscuss Lhe laws as a class
afLerwards. !-# %&'()*+,

^^ 1h|s |s what you w|tnessed |n the v|deos on my youtube channe|. ^^

Act|v|ty 1wo (Lssent|a| uest|on]Art uest|ons Cne and 1wo): Show sLudenLs webslLe abouL world-
beLLerlng roboLs: hLLp://myllfescoop.com/feaLured-sLorles/2012/02/6-roboLs-LhaL-wlll-beLLer-our-
fuLure.hLml?page=2. ulscuss essenLlal quesLlons/arL quesLlons aLLached.

1ell Lhe class LhaL Lhey wlll be maklng Lhelr own roboLs. Along wlLh Lhe producLlon of Lhe roboL,
sLudenLs wlll also be requlred Lo wrlLe up a half-page analysls of Lhe funcLlon of Lhelr roboL, how LhaL
roboL fulfllls all Lhe Laws of 8oboLlcs and Lhe sLudenL's personal reasonlng for creaLlng sald roboL.
1here musL be a purpose for proposed roboL, LhaL purpose may have a [ob, acL as a frlend, or even a
peL, eLc.
Stud|o rocedure: Pave pre-cuL SLyrofoam and paper slLLlng on Lhe back Lable. lnsLrucL sLudenLs Lo
plck up Lhree pleces of SLyrofoam, Lhree pleces of maLchlng paper and Lhen one plece of 8x11
drawlng paper. Convey Lo sLudenLs LhaL Lhey are Lo draw one head, one Lorso and one leg-Lype of
Lhlng" (lL could be any form, [usL as long as lLs funcLlon ls moblllLy) on each plece of cuL paper. AfLer
sLudenLs are done drawlng pleces, have Lhem place Lhelr drawlngs on each SLyrofoam plece and
carve flgure by uslng a pen of a pencll. 1here should be a falrly deep groove ln Lhe SLyrofoam
afLerwards, Lhls allows a sufflclenL amounL of space avallable Lo creaLe a sLamp. AfLer sLudenLs have
compleLed Lhls Lask, Lhey may go over Lo Lhe counLer and reLrleve Lhese lLems:
- newspaper
- Cne Color of 1empera alnL
- alnLbrush
Cnce Lhelr work areas are seL up, Lhey may begln coaLlng Lhelr sLamps wlLh palnL. SLudenLs may use
one Lo Lhree colors.
8emlnd sLudenLs LhaL globblng (yes, lL's a word) Loo much palnL on Lhe sLamp may noL resulL ln a
well-made pro[ecL. lf Loo much palnL geLs lnLo a groove, Lell sLudenLs Lhey can flsh lL ouL wlLh a
pencll. Pave sLudenLs pracLlce sLamplng all Lhree componenLs on a scrap plece of paper. lf lL does
noL work - back Lo Lhe drawlng board. Also, remlnd Lhem Lo sLamp wlLh Lhe paper on Lop, lL allows
for more pressure. Cnce sLudenLs are sure Lhelr sLamps wlll work, have Lhem sLamp plece by plece
onLo Lhe drawlng paper (make sure sLudenLs reallze Lhey have Lo llne Lhe componenLs up for Lhe
mosL parL). !.# %&'()*+,

1he remalnder of Lhe Llme wlll be spenL cleanlng up.

1h|s |s how the AC1UAL procedure went:

DA CNL: Showed students S|ngu|ar|ty v|deo and wor|d-better|ng robot webs|te, deve|oped
add|t|ona| Laws of kobot|cs, and shared Laws tab|e by tab|e (as seen |n teach|ng demo v|deo).

DA 1WC: Students wrote a ha|f page descr|pt|on about the|r very own "wor|d-chang|ng" robots
and began sketch|ng |deas.




















DA 1nkLL: Cnce students were f|n|shed w|th the|r sketches, we taped those sketches on top of
styrofoam trays. Students were |nstructed to go over the|r sketches w|th penc|| (hard enough to be
ab|e to push |nto the styrofoam). When th|s was accomp||shed, we asked them to re-trace the
||nes |n the styrofoam w|th pen to make sure the grooves were deep enough.

























DA ICUk: D|scussed tab|e [obs (the art room chore chart), f|||ed out the cr|ter|a on the rubr|c
together, and had about ten add|t|ona| m|nutes to f|n|sh styrofoam matr|ces.

















DA IIVL: Gathered together at a pr|nt|ng tab|e to demo the pr|ntmak|ng process. Students were
expected to put an appropr|ate amount of |nk onto p|ate, ro|| out w|th the brayer, and app|y |nk
on the Styrofoam. We d|scussed baren techn|ques by us|ng p|ast|c spoons. Students were g|ven 2-3
test pr|nts.





Sorry abouL Lhe horrlble
plcLure - l dldn'L wanL
Lo Lake lL off Lhe wall.





















DAS SIk-LIGn1: Students have been and w||| cont|nue to pr|nt the|r robots onto f|na| p|eces of
paper. We have a|so asked to comp|ete and second pr|nt |n wh|ch students m|x and match the|r
heads, bod|es, and |egs w|th others. 1he f|na| product |ooks ||ke th|s:





















nomework: SLudenLs are Lo wrlLe Lhe half-page analysls/descrlpLlon of Lhelr personal roboLs. 1hese
wrlLe-ups wlll evenLually accompany Lhe roboL as a flll-ln for an arLlsL sLaLemenL.
(We d|d th|s |n c|ass).

r|nc|p|es of oss|b|||ty: 1he concepL of noL knowlng" ls one of Lhe forerunnlng ldeas ln Lhls lesson
plan. We all have Lhe capablllLy Lo predlcL whaL we belleve Lhe fuLure wlll hold, buL noLhlng wlll be
known unLll we acLually geL Lhere. Pavlng sLudenLs explore a poLenLlally negaLlve fuLure allows Lhem
Lo aL leasL somewhaL prepare for whaL many belleve Lo be lnevlLable. uesplLe Lhls lmpendlng doom,
Lhe hope LhaL humanlLy wlll always prevall ls and should be hardwlred lnLo our mlnds.

Mater|a|s: CompuLer, ro[ecLor, WhlLeboard, Markers, Llned aper, WrlLlng uLensll, SLyrofoam Lrays,
CompuLer aper, urawlng aper, 1empera alnL, newspapers, alnLbrushes.

Standards:
- A81.vA.ll.PS.8 Lxplore soclal and global lssues Lhrough Lhe appllcaLlon of Lhe creaLlve
process. (21
sL
)CenLury Skllls: lll.7, lll.8, lll.9, lll.10)
- A81.vA.v.PS.8 ldenLlfy Lhe role vlsual arLs play ln enhanclng clvlc responslblllLy and
communlLy. (21sL CenLury Skllls: l.3, l.6, lll.2, lll.4, lll.7, lll.9)
- SLandard 3: 8ecognlze, analyze, and descrlbe connecLlons among Lhe arLs, beLween Lhe
arLs and oLher dlsclpllnes, beLween Lhe arLs and everyday llfe. (vAA: C2, C3, C4, C3, 2,
3, 81, 82, 83, 84)
-
Assessment: We use the same rubr|c for every s|ng|e pro[ect. ou'|| not|ce be|ow that th|s spec|f|c
rubr|c was f|||ed out for a d|fferent pro[ect, but |t honest|y doesn't matter. Students are graded on:
1. Whether ass|gnments d|rect|ons and cr|ter|a have been met (wh|ch we wr|te on the back
for each |nd|v|dua| pro[ect).
2. Whether the compos|t|on and des|gn have been p|anned out.
3. Whether persona| express|on |s v|s|b|e, and |f borrowed, changed.
4. Whether art shows attent|on to deta|| and craftsmansh|p.
S. Whether the students are on task and eff|c|ent|y use c|ass t|me.

Ior th|s part|cu|ar pro[ect, we wrote the
fo||ow|ng cr|ter|a on the back. A||
pro[ect cr|ter|a |s wr|tten by me and
shown to the students through the use
of the document camera.

Cr|ter|a:

1. kobot must have three separate, but
equa| parts (head, body, and |egs).

2. kobot must have a "wor|d-better|ng"
purpose.

3. No more than two d|fferent co|or |nks
shou|d be used.

4. kobot's wr|tten descr|pt|on shou|d be
|nc|uded.