Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about recycled robots, exploring drawing and sculpture.

We're going to be doing lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to demonstrate how a robot's purpose influences its design and features.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are recyclable material, sustainability, purpose.

I'm gonna say those again, and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Recyclable material.

Sustainability.

Purpose.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Let's take a look at each of their definitions.

Recyclable material is the process of converting waste into reusable material.

Sustainability means being capable of continuing or being kept up over time.

And purpose is a reason for doing something.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Building and becoming a robot, researching artists who depict robots in art, and designing a robot.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to explore building and becoming a robot.

Today we're going to step into the world of robots by acting like them.

Identifying the purpose of a robot will help us decide what features and functions to include in our own robot designs.

What do you think each robot does in this picture? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and then press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Could you guess what each robot does? Maybe they're exploring space, or they are drawing, or hoovering a room.

Well, what features might a robot need to help with a specific purpose, whether that is exploring space or hoovering a room? Pause the video here and have another discussion with your partner about what features a robot might need to help with that specific purpose, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, each robot has a different purpose, whether that's cleaning, or helping people, or building things.

And when designing your own robot, you need to consider what its purpose is and how that affects the features it needs.

The children here discuss features based on the purpose of their robot.

Laura says, "I'll use a cardboard box for the body.

Since my robot's for cleaning, I'll add space for sponges." Jacob says, "My robot is for picking up pollution, so I'll make the arms long and sturdy, wrapping them in foil to look strong enough to grab waste." And Alex says, "I'll use bottle caps for buttons and make a tray for medical supplies since my robot is for making medicine." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

When designing a robot, you should consider what its purpose is and how that affects the features it needs.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said true, that's absolutely right.

Considering a robot's purpose helps decide the right features.

You maybe have to think about how its shapes, tools, or movement can make it even better at what it does.

Imagine you are a robot.

How would you move? Would you be slow and mechanical or fast and efficient? Pause the video here and give yourself some time to imagine being a robot, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you decide? Were you slow and mechanical or fast and efficient? Well, I now want you to think about how robots communicate.

Do they beep, flash lights, or use a screen? Or maybe you have another idea around how they could communicate.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and then press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think about robots communicating? Did they beep, or use a screen, or did you have another idea? Well, Laura says, "Robots don't move like humans, so let's try small jerky steps and keep our arms straight." And Jacob says, "What if our robot needs to pick something up? Maybe we can move our arms in slow, careful motions, like a claw machine." Well, Alex says, "Maybe we can make whirring or beeping sounds as we move." By acting as robots, you'll be able to explore their features and functions to inspire your designs.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How might your movements change when acting like a robot? Are you move smoothly and freely like a human, or use slow, careful, or jerky movements, or run and jump quickly? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to use slow, careful, or jerky movements, then you're right.

Well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to plan a robot.

So get into small groups and work together to design and plan a robot.

Think about the purpose and key features of your robot.

So that purpose, what job will your robot do? What skills are important for doing the job well? And then those features.

What features will your robot have that suit its purpose? So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to plan your robot, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, maybe your purpose was cleaning windows.

And the skills for cleaning windows are to be able to reach up high, to be able to hold and spray water.

You need space for cleaning soap.

And you'd also need good balance and be able to move easily.

So some of the features might be to have long arms, a storage tank for water, drawers for cleaning items, and some big wheels.

Now the second part of this learning task, I'd like you to build a robot.

So review and build different parts of your robot using recyclable materials.

Think about the purpose and key features of your robot.

Your robot might need arms, buttons, lights, wheels, or tools.

And use recyclable materials to represent different parts of your robot.

You could use cardboard tubes for the arms, bottle caps for buttons, or straws or string for wiring.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at building a robot, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Did you enjoy building your robot with those recyclable materials? Well, you might have created different parts like this one, maybe using bottle caps for a nose or buttons, maybe plastic bottles for ears or arms, cardboard tubes for arms, and maybe some straws or string for wiring.

Well done for having a go at building your own robot.

Now, I'd like you to plan and act out a short scene.

And this could be a cleaning robot picking up rubbish, a rescue robot helping someone in danger, a factory robot building something.

So pause the video here and have a go at planning and acting out a short scene with your robot, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, you might have created a cleaning robot picking up rubbish, a rescue robot helping someone in danger, or a factory robot building something.

Now, with this group of children, they moved slowly like a robot, with stiff arms and legs, and made mechanical noises while picking up the rubbish.

Maybe you acted out your scene a bit like this too.

Well done for having a go at doing that.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to research artists who depict robots in art.

Can robots be more than just machines? How can artists create robots that blend art and technology? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner around these two questions, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Can robots be more than just machines? Well, I think they can, thinking about the purposes that they've got.

They're also helpers, aren't they? And how can artists then create robots that blend art and technology? Well, let's take a look.

Jean-Michel Basquiat depicted robots using bold brush strokes, bright colours, and abstract forms. Basquiat created figures of skeletal structures, mechanical elements, and graffiti-inspired marks with the purpose of exploring themes of power, technology, and identity.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Jean-Michel Basquiat used bold colours and abstract shapes to create robot-themed artwork exploring power and technology.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think.

Is that statement true or false? And press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said that's true, you're absolutely right.

Jean-Michel Basquiat used bold colours and abstract shapes to represent robots in his artwork.

Eileen Agar's "Robotics" is an acrylic painting that takes an imaginative and surreal approach to depicting robots.

She used abstract shapes and vibrant colours to create a robotic figure, blending organic and mechanical forms for a playful, dream-like interpretation of robots.

Pause the video here and have a think about this question.

How did Eileen Agar represent robots in her artwork? A, by using realistic, detailed figures of robots, b, by blending organic and mechanical forms with vibrant colours and textures, or c, only depicting robots in black and white.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to think about this question, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said by blending organic and mechanical forms with vibrant colours and textures, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Aisha and Laura discuss the painting of the robots they have researched.

Aisha says, "Bold, bright colours make the robot stand out." Laura says, "I like the exaggerated features, like large eyes.

The robot looks friendly." Aisha also says, "It has large, claw-like hands.

Maybe the purpose is to pick things up easily?" What do you think? They now discuss what they might include in their own design.

Aisha says, "Symbols and numbers could add meaning to the design, like a code." And Laura says, "I like the scribbles and expressive brush strokes, but my robot will have a medical purpose, so it must look clean." Look at the robot painting below.

What features could you use in your own design? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What were your ideas? You might have said bold colours, abstract shapes, expressive lines.

And you might have noticed some symbols, and some patterns, and maybe the graffiti-style marks.

This brings us to our second learning task.

I'd like you to research and select one artist who depicts robots in their artwork.

You could draw parts of the robot you find interesting and write a short paragraph about their style and how it inspires your design.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at researching one artist, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, you may have researched an artist who includes robots in their artwork and described their unique style.

Maybe you've explained how their use of shapes, colours, and materials will inspire your own design.

And you might have also sketched parts of their robots that you find interesting and considered how you might incorporate similar features into your own work.

Well done for having go at researching an artist and identifying some ideas for when you create your own design of a robot.

This brings us to the final part of our lesson.

We're going to look at designing a robot.

Sustainability is the idea that people must work with the environment in a way that makes sure that there will be enough natural resources, such as water, food, plants, and minerals, left for future generations.

Robots can help make the world more sustainable by reducing waste, recycling materials, and protecting the environment.

Some robots are designed to create, while others sort rubbish into recyclable materials and help clean up pollution, like collecting plastic from the ocean.

Robots can support sustainability, for example in farming to save water and energy, or in factories to reduce waste when making products.

Since you're designing robots using recyclable materials, think about how your robot could support sustainability and help the planet.

Could your robot collect rubbish, plant trees, or clean the air? What features would your robot need to do this? Pause the video here and give yourself some time to think about this, and maybe have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, maybe, like in this image of this robot here, maybe your robot has solar panels.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Robots can help make the world more sustainable by recycling materials, reducing waste, and protecting the environment.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said that that's true, you're absolutely right.

Robots can support sustainability by reducing waste and helping the environment.

When designing a robot, you could think about the following things.

The colours on your robot mood board, the purpose of your robot, the patterns you might see, the features that it has, the materials, and the shape and structure.

Aisha and Laura share their ideas about designing their robot.

Aisha says, "I'm going to design a robot that has the purpose of cleaning up parks.

It should have a strong, boxy shape so it can carry lots of rubbish." Laura says, "My robot's purpose is to water plants.

It could have a tall, slim body so it can easily move between garden rows." Remember, your drawings do not need to be perfect when you're designing your robot.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

When designing a robot, what should you think about? The robot's purpose and how its features will help, the robot's weight, making it as heavy as possible, or choosing only one material for the whole robot? Pause the video here and give yourself some time to think about this question, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that when designing a robot, you should think about the robot's purpose and how its features will help, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now it's time to have a go at our final learning task.

I'd like you to design your robot.

So review your work from Task A and B, and then I'd like you to consider how you will develop your design.

Does your design support sustainability? How will you show the inspiration of the artist? Does your design include some elements or features of the artist that you researched? So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at designing your robot by reviewing your work from Task A and B, and then press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? I'd now like you to plan your sustainable robot design using recyclable materials.

You could sketch the design of your robot, considering its purpose carefully, label each part with the recyclable material you plan to use, and write the purpose of your robot and note down each component in your design, and use your choice of mark-making media.

Now, remember, your sketches don't need to be perfect.

You're just having a go at getting your ideas down to create your robot design.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at doing this, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, you may have designed something like this, with a boxy structure like Nam June Paik.

Maybe its purpose is to recycle paper.

And some of the features might include lots of compartments for different types of paper.

Another feature might include flexible fingers for picking up small pieces of paper.

And you also might have used recyclable materials, like cardboard tubes, cereal boxes, and buttons.

Maybe your designs look a bit like this.

Can you see how each one is different? And they're not perfect sketches.

Well done for having a go at designing your own robot.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about designing a robot.

You can select recycled materials for your robot, considering their strength, flexibility, and purpose.

And by researching artists, we can be inspired to create unique designs.

And role-playing as a robot can help us understand its purpose and how its features work.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.