Day 1 Student Directions
Robots Narrative Performance Task
Task:
You have joined a creative writing club that meets at the school library once a week. The current assignment is to write a science fiction story for the group about any subject that interests you. For your story, you must include information from research that you have done. To prepare for your story, you have decided to research the topic of robots. Below are four sources you have uncovered in your research (two essays, an article, and an image).
In Part 2, you will write a story on a topic related to the sources.
Directions for beginning:
You will now examine several sources. You can re-examine any of the sources as often as you like.
Part 1 (~70 minutes)
Sources for Performance Task:
Source #1
Meet the Robots
by Erin Bregman
If you think of robots as a thing of the future, think again. Robots do many jobs today. They work in mines and farms. They help doctors and save lives. They even explore volcanoes. Here are some robots that are hard at work.
Gemini-Scout
Gemini-Scout is a remote-controlled robot that does search-and-rescue work in mines under the ground. The robot is less than two feet tall and has wheels. It can go up and down stairs and make tight turns, and it can even roll through water. The robot is small, but it is strong. Gemini-Scout carries food, water, and other supplies. It can even drag hurt people to safety.
Wherever it goes, Gemini-Scout collects information. For example, it tests the air for gases and then tells miners when the air is safe. The robot also has a thermal camera to help it find miners. A thermal camera uses hear sensors to find living things.
When the robot finds the trapped miners, the miners can use its two-way radio to talk with the rescue team.
This robot was built to be easy to use. Its remote control is the same one that is used for some video games. If you’ve ever played a video game, you may know how to use Gemini-Scout.
Dante 2
Dante 2 is a robot with an interesting job - it climbs into volcanoes to gather information for scientists. Like a spider, this robot has eight legs. This helps it climb the steep walls of the volcano. It is also built to survive very high heat. When a volcano is too dangerous for scientists to enter, Dante goes instead.
Dante 2 looks for vents, or holes, in the crater. Then the robot collects information about the gases that come out of the vents. In the past, scientists could not learn as much about volcanoes, but Dante 2 is changing that. Now scientists can study a volcano close up while they remain safe in their laboratories.
Mr. Gower
Mr. Gower is a robot that works in hospitals, helping doctors and nurses bring medicine to patients. Mr. Gower looks like a small cabinet on wheels. The body of the robot is a stack of locked drawers that store medicine. Nurses and doctors can unlock the drawers when the medicine is needed.
Mr. Gower can go anywhere in the hospital. It can ride elevators, steer through hallways, and move around things that get in the way. The robot is so strong that it can pull 500 pounds. Mr. Gower runs on batteries. After charging for two hours, the robot can deliver medicine for twelve hours without stopping.
Not only does it work long days, but Mr. Gower can talk. It has been programmed to say hundreds of phrases. For example, it can say, “Calling elevator” or “Your delivery is here.” Mr. Gower does work that doctors, pharmacists, and nurses used to do. This allows them to focus on other important tasks.
Agribots
An agribot is a robot that picks fruit. It might pick berries, oranges, grapes, or apples. Agribots are not yet widely used, but farmers are very interested in what these robots can do. Because picking a strawberry is different than picking an apple, agribots come in all shapes and sizes. Some have giant arms that are towed behind trucks. Others are able to move around on their own. In Japan, there is a strawberry-picking robot that can sense the color of the berries. This helps the robot know when each berry is ripe.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), scientists are working to grow cherry tomatoes with no human help at all! They have created a greenhouse full of plants that are cared for by small agribots. The agribots are like robot farmers. Every plant has sensors that tell the robots what the plant needs. If a plant is too dry, a robot will water it. When a robot senses that a tomato is ripe, it uses a mechanical arm to pick the tomato. Agribots may seem unusual now, but one day they may be common on farms.
Source #2
Here is a photograph that shows the Dante II robot scaling a hillside on a field test before being sent into Mount Spurr, an active volcano in Alaska.
Task:
You have joined a creative writing club that meets at the school library once a week. The current assignment is to write a science fiction story for the group about any subject that interests you. For your story, you must include information from research that you have done. To prepare for your story, you have decided to research the topic of robots. Below are four sources you have uncovered in your research (two essays, an article, and an image).
In Part 2, you will write a story on a topic related to the sources.
Directions for beginning:
You will now examine several sources. You can re-examine any of the sources as often as you like.
Part 1 (~70 minutes)
Sources for Performance Task:
Source #1
Meet the Robots
by Erin Bregman
If you think of robots as a thing of the future, think again. Robots do many jobs today. They work in mines and farms. They help doctors and save lives. They even explore volcanoes. Here are some robots that are hard at work.
Gemini-Scout
Gemini-Scout is a remote-controlled robot that does search-and-rescue work in mines under the ground. The robot is less than two feet tall and has wheels. It can go up and down stairs and make tight turns, and it can even roll through water. The robot is small, but it is strong. Gemini-Scout carries food, water, and other supplies. It can even drag hurt people to safety.
Wherever it goes, Gemini-Scout collects information. For example, it tests the air for gases and then tells miners when the air is safe. The robot also has a thermal camera to help it find miners. A thermal camera uses hear sensors to find living things.
When the robot finds the trapped miners, the miners can use its two-way radio to talk with the rescue team.
This robot was built to be easy to use. Its remote control is the same one that is used for some video games. If you’ve ever played a video game, you may know how to use Gemini-Scout.
Dante 2
Dante 2 is a robot with an interesting job - it climbs into volcanoes to gather information for scientists. Like a spider, this robot has eight legs. This helps it climb the steep walls of the volcano. It is also built to survive very high heat. When a volcano is too dangerous for scientists to enter, Dante goes instead.
Dante 2 looks for vents, or holes, in the crater. Then the robot collects information about the gases that come out of the vents. In the past, scientists could not learn as much about volcanoes, but Dante 2 is changing that. Now scientists can study a volcano close up while they remain safe in their laboratories.
Mr. Gower
Mr. Gower is a robot that works in hospitals, helping doctors and nurses bring medicine to patients. Mr. Gower looks like a small cabinet on wheels. The body of the robot is a stack of locked drawers that store medicine. Nurses and doctors can unlock the drawers when the medicine is needed.
Mr. Gower can go anywhere in the hospital. It can ride elevators, steer through hallways, and move around things that get in the way. The robot is so strong that it can pull 500 pounds. Mr. Gower runs on batteries. After charging for two hours, the robot can deliver medicine for twelve hours without stopping.
Not only does it work long days, but Mr. Gower can talk. It has been programmed to say hundreds of phrases. For example, it can say, “Calling elevator” or “Your delivery is here.” Mr. Gower does work that doctors, pharmacists, and nurses used to do. This allows them to focus on other important tasks.
Agribots
An agribot is a robot that picks fruit. It might pick berries, oranges, grapes, or apples. Agribots are not yet widely used, but farmers are very interested in what these robots can do. Because picking a strawberry is different than picking an apple, agribots come in all shapes and sizes. Some have giant arms that are towed behind trucks. Others are able to move around on their own. In Japan, there is a strawberry-picking robot that can sense the color of the berries. This helps the robot know when each berry is ripe.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), scientists are working to grow cherry tomatoes with no human help at all! They have created a greenhouse full of plants that are cared for by small agribots. The agribots are like robot farmers. Every plant has sensors that tell the robots what the plant needs. If a plant is too dry, a robot will water it. When a robot senses that a tomato is ripe, it uses a mechanical arm to pick the tomato. Agribots may seem unusual now, but one day they may be common on farms.
Source #2
Here is a photograph that shows the Dante II robot scaling a hillside on a field test before being sent into Mount Spurr, an active volcano in Alaska.
Source #3
Robots that Play Well With Others
by Kascha Semonovitch
About fifty years ago, the author Isaac Asimov wrote a story called “I, Robot.” The story is set in the future, when robots take care of children. The main character loves her robot babysitter, Robbie. Unlike the child’s parents, Robbie always has time to play. Robbie and the child have adventures together. Robbie is an endless source of fun!
When the story was written, it was fantasy. Now it is so close to coming true, since today, robots can do all kinds of work. They assemble electronic gadgets, guide trains on tracks, and sort trash. Today’s robots can play as well as work - robots sing, dance, and even play music. A Japanese robot can play the piano with its two mechanical hands. Another robot, HRP-4c, can even dance and sing.
Many playful robots are made to copy animals, too. Some robots play the way animals play while other robots play with animals. For example, moviemakers have designed huge robotic apes and dinosaurs to be in movies. But these kinds of robots aren’t made only for movies. Robot animals can live with you. You can buy a lifelike pet, such as a dog, a seal, or even a dinosaur. These robot pets have a lot in common with real pets. They want your attention and you can teach them tricks. There is even a new version of a robot pet that has fur so you can pet your robot just like you pet your dog or cat. There is one difference, though - you don’t need to take them outside or feed them!
Other robots help people play with live animals. One company, I-Pet Companion, has made a robot that lets people play with kittens, but from a distance. When you log on to the Internet, you can control the robot from far away. The robot is put in a room full of kittens. It drags a piece of strong for the kittens to chase. When it’s your turn, you can control the robot to pull the string this way or that. The kittens jump after the strong as you push the controls.
Some robots even play all by themselves. College students in Oregon have created robots that can play hockey or shuffleboard on their own. All year, the students work hard to design the robots. The robots play the game without any instructions from the students. The robots grab the puck, turn, twist and compete to score. In the final test, the robots must push the puck to the goal without being told what to do.
There may never be a robot like Robbie since, “I, Robot” was a made-up story. Still, today’s robots can offer hours of fun.
Source #4
When the Car is the Driver
By Steve Henn
This week the state of Nevada finalized new rules that will make it possible for robotic self-driving cars to receive their own special driving permits. It’s not quite driver’s licenses for robots - but it’s close.
The other day I went for a spin in a robotic car. This car has an $80,000 cone-shaped laser mounted on its roof. There are radars on the front, back and sides. Detailed maps help it navigate.
Do people notice it’s a self-driving car and gawk?
“We get a lot of thumbs up,” says Anthony Levandowski, one of the leaders of Google’s self-driving car project. “People drive by and then they wave. I wish they would keep their eyes on the road.”
Levandowski is in the passenger seat with a laptop showing him what the car can see. Chris Urmson is behind the wheel. But his hands are in his lap and the steering wheel is gently turning back and forth, tracing the contours of California’s busy Highway 85.
“And it can adjust the speed. If there is a particularly tight corner, it will slow down for that,” Urmson says. “It adjusts speed to stay out of blind spots of other vehicles. It tries to match speed with traffic.”
Urmson has been working on this technology for close to a decade. His first car managed to travel just 11 miles on a dusty road. Google’s vehicle is a giant leap forward.
“When we got this on the freeway and it was doing 70 miles an hour and just smoothly driving along the road, you could taste it - the technology,” Urmson says. “You could really feel the impact and how it’s going to change people’s lives. It was just amazing.”
While he was talking, a motorcycle cut us off. The car saw the move coming, and we hardly even noticed.
Google’s fleet of robotic cars has driven more than 200,000 miles over highways and city streets in California and Nevada. Google did this testing in kind of a legal limbo. These cars aren’t forbidden, but “There was no permission granted for any of that to happen by anybody,” says Steve Jurvetson, a venture capitalist and robotic car enthusiast.
“It’s essential that there be a place to do tests,” he says. “There’s two ways to do it - the seek-forgiveness strategy and the seek-permission strategy. Frankly, the 200,000 hours I think that have been driven here in California - that’s a seek-forgiveness strategy. Right?”
If anything went wrong, Google would have a huge amount of explaining to do. So last year, the company hired a lobbyist in Nevada. “The state of Nevada is so close, it’s a lot easier to pass laws there than it is in California,” Levandowski says.
He says Google convinced the state Legislature to pass a law making robotic cars explicitly legal. But the Legislature went further than just creating a place to test these cars - it ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to create basically a driver’s license for these robot cars.
“I thought it was great,” says Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada DMV. “My grandfather took me to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City many times. And they were promising me the car of the future as an 8-year-old, and I thought to myself, this finally could be it.”
Starting March 1, companies will be able to apply to test self-driving cars on Nevada roads.
“The test vehicles will be Nevada’s first red license plate since the 1940s,” Breslow says. Think of it like a learner’s permit - those bright red plates will let everyone know there’s a student robot driver behind the wheel.
“And eventually when these vehicles are sold, it will be the first ever neon green license plate that the state of Nevada will ever issue - green meaning go, and the future’s arrived,” Breslow says.
Google says it will probably be years before cars like this go on sale. But Jurvetson, the venture capitalist, says he’s convinced this technology could save thousands of lives “today, already, right now.”
Robots are never distracted. They don’t text or drink or get tired. They see things no human can.
“That front radar catches bounces off the ground,” Jurvetson says. “We were driving behind an 18-wheeler, and we saw the vehicles in front of the 18-wheeler - vehicles we could not see with our eye - because the signal bounced off the pavement . . . at a glancing angle underneath the 18-wheeler. And so no human will ever have the amount of information that these cars have when they are driving.”
While Nevada may be the first state to create a licensing system for self-driving cars, it won’t be the last; Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma are already following suit. And Jurvetson says one day we may be asking ourselves if humans should still be allowed to drive.
Robots that Play Well With Others
by Kascha Semonovitch
About fifty years ago, the author Isaac Asimov wrote a story called “I, Robot.” The story is set in the future, when robots take care of children. The main character loves her robot babysitter, Robbie. Unlike the child’s parents, Robbie always has time to play. Robbie and the child have adventures together. Robbie is an endless source of fun!
When the story was written, it was fantasy. Now it is so close to coming true, since today, robots can do all kinds of work. They assemble electronic gadgets, guide trains on tracks, and sort trash. Today’s robots can play as well as work - robots sing, dance, and even play music. A Japanese robot can play the piano with its two mechanical hands. Another robot, HRP-4c, can even dance and sing.
Many playful robots are made to copy animals, too. Some robots play the way animals play while other robots play with animals. For example, moviemakers have designed huge robotic apes and dinosaurs to be in movies. But these kinds of robots aren’t made only for movies. Robot animals can live with you. You can buy a lifelike pet, such as a dog, a seal, or even a dinosaur. These robot pets have a lot in common with real pets. They want your attention and you can teach them tricks. There is even a new version of a robot pet that has fur so you can pet your robot just like you pet your dog or cat. There is one difference, though - you don’t need to take them outside or feed them!
Other robots help people play with live animals. One company, I-Pet Companion, has made a robot that lets people play with kittens, but from a distance. When you log on to the Internet, you can control the robot from far away. The robot is put in a room full of kittens. It drags a piece of strong for the kittens to chase. When it’s your turn, you can control the robot to pull the string this way or that. The kittens jump after the strong as you push the controls.
Some robots even play all by themselves. College students in Oregon have created robots that can play hockey or shuffleboard on their own. All year, the students work hard to design the robots. The robots play the game without any instructions from the students. The robots grab the puck, turn, twist and compete to score. In the final test, the robots must push the puck to the goal without being told what to do.
There may never be a robot like Robbie since, “I, Robot” was a made-up story. Still, today’s robots can offer hours of fun.
Source #4
When the Car is the Driver
By Steve Henn
This week the state of Nevada finalized new rules that will make it possible for robotic self-driving cars to receive their own special driving permits. It’s not quite driver’s licenses for robots - but it’s close.
The other day I went for a spin in a robotic car. This car has an $80,000 cone-shaped laser mounted on its roof. There are radars on the front, back and sides. Detailed maps help it navigate.
Do people notice it’s a self-driving car and gawk?
“We get a lot of thumbs up,” says Anthony Levandowski, one of the leaders of Google’s self-driving car project. “People drive by and then they wave. I wish they would keep their eyes on the road.”
Levandowski is in the passenger seat with a laptop showing him what the car can see. Chris Urmson is behind the wheel. But his hands are in his lap and the steering wheel is gently turning back and forth, tracing the contours of California’s busy Highway 85.
“And it can adjust the speed. If there is a particularly tight corner, it will slow down for that,” Urmson says. “It adjusts speed to stay out of blind spots of other vehicles. It tries to match speed with traffic.”
Urmson has been working on this technology for close to a decade. His first car managed to travel just 11 miles on a dusty road. Google’s vehicle is a giant leap forward.
“When we got this on the freeway and it was doing 70 miles an hour and just smoothly driving along the road, you could taste it - the technology,” Urmson says. “You could really feel the impact and how it’s going to change people’s lives. It was just amazing.”
While he was talking, a motorcycle cut us off. The car saw the move coming, and we hardly even noticed.
Google’s fleet of robotic cars has driven more than 200,000 miles over highways and city streets in California and Nevada. Google did this testing in kind of a legal limbo. These cars aren’t forbidden, but “There was no permission granted for any of that to happen by anybody,” says Steve Jurvetson, a venture capitalist and robotic car enthusiast.
“It’s essential that there be a place to do tests,” he says. “There’s two ways to do it - the seek-forgiveness strategy and the seek-permission strategy. Frankly, the 200,000 hours I think that have been driven here in California - that’s a seek-forgiveness strategy. Right?”
If anything went wrong, Google would have a huge amount of explaining to do. So last year, the company hired a lobbyist in Nevada. “The state of Nevada is so close, it’s a lot easier to pass laws there than it is in California,” Levandowski says.
He says Google convinced the state Legislature to pass a law making robotic cars explicitly legal. But the Legislature went further than just creating a place to test these cars - it ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to create basically a driver’s license for these robot cars.
“I thought it was great,” says Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada DMV. “My grandfather took me to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City many times. And they were promising me the car of the future as an 8-year-old, and I thought to myself, this finally could be it.”
Starting March 1, companies will be able to apply to test self-driving cars on Nevada roads.
“The test vehicles will be Nevada’s first red license plate since the 1940s,” Breslow says. Think of it like a learner’s permit - those bright red plates will let everyone know there’s a student robot driver behind the wheel.
“And eventually when these vehicles are sold, it will be the first ever neon green license plate that the state of Nevada will ever issue - green meaning go, and the future’s arrived,” Breslow says.
Google says it will probably be years before cars like this go on sale. But Jurvetson, the venture capitalist, says he’s convinced this technology could save thousands of lives “today, already, right now.”
Robots are never distracted. They don’t text or drink or get tired. They see things no human can.
“That front radar catches bounces off the ground,” Jurvetson says. “We were driving behind an 18-wheeler, and we saw the vehicles in front of the 18-wheeler - vehicles we could not see with our eye - because the signal bounced off the pavement . . . at a glancing angle underneath the 18-wheeler. And so no human will ever have the amount of information that these cars have when they are driving.”
While Nevada may be the first state to create a licensing system for self-driving cars, it won’t be the last; Hawaii, Florida and Oklahoma are already following suit. And Jurvetson says one day we may be asking ourselves if humans should still be allowed to drive.
End of Day 1
