Key Messages

  • I know what makes us the same and what makes us different.
  • I can identify what makes me unique.
  • I can identify what makes other people unique.

Learning Intention

  • To teach body structure.
  • To highlight an individual's personality, hopes and dreams.
  • To develop students' self-awareness.

Time

30 minutes.

Required Resources

  • Construction materials such as boxes, plastic containers, paper tubes, small pieces of light wood, foil, cardboard, string, masking tape, PVA glue (make a ‘robot’ prior to lesson with moving limbs and a head that a container, so that students can put things in).
  • Small pieces of paper.
  • Writing and drawing materials.

Teaching Notes

This learning sequence highlights the brain as the ‘container or source’ of our dreams, hopes and personalities which makes us our unique selves. It also develops an understanding that while people may share some common characteristics, they are individuals who are also unique.

Procedure

  • Present the students with your robot.
  • Discuss the names of the major parts of your creation e.g.: moving limbs, chest, head.
  • Compare the robot to humans. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:
  • Lead the discussion to cover love, imagination, likes and dislikes, special memories that have meaning, friendship etc.
    – Is there more to being human than just having a body?
    – What things make us different to a robot?
    – Do machines have emotions?
    – What are the emotions we can feel?
    – What else can we do in our ‘heads/brains’?
  • Tell students that the class is going to add some of their human uniqueness to the robot. They are to think of things that make them special. They can draw and write these things on the paper to be shared with the class, then added to the robot head, which will become the depository of all their unique qualities and ideas.
  • Things that are part of me and make me unique. Here are some prompts:
    – Two people that I love
    – Name of best friend
    – A favourite thing I like to do
    – What I would like to be when I grow up
    – A special place I like to visit
    – Favourite food, sport, movie or song
  • Hand out paper and set students to work on their uniqueness. Over the week, have the students take turns at sharing some of the things that they have listed. Once they have had their turn, they can put their uniqueness into the robot's head.
  • These can be reviewed at the end of the year to make note of the student's growth and changes to their preferences.

Questioning

  1. What things make us different from each other on the outside/inside?
  2. It is much easier to see what makes us different on the outside. How do we find out about how different other
    people are on the inside?
  3. What does the word ‘unique’ mean when we are talking about people?

Curriculum Information