Monday, March 19, 2018

ALGORITHMIC WILDERNESS


Agricultural robots ile ilgili görsel sonucu


By: Henry Mance
Level of Difficulty: ***
BEFORE YOU READ
·         Biocarbon engineering  presentation video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04vtS9BCBho
·         Tiny, Robotic Bees Could Change the World | National Geographic
·         The farming robots of tomorrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl77FVobxVI
·         Robots and drones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RN378Vuwts
·         Drones and the future of farming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3YcZtlVrls
LISTEN AND HIGHLIGHT
Access the text, click listen here to the left of you screen and listen.
QUESTIONS
1.       The most effective way of going unplugged is to… Why?
2.       We understand from the second paragraph that the world of tech is like the free market economy/ quicksand/ a vicious circle/ a black hole. Mark the odd one out.
3.       Select a subtitle for the paragraph beginning “Behind”: Green versus Intervention / Beware of Humans/ Conservation Now/ The Cane Toads Won.
4.       Where in the paragraph beginning “Yet” would you place the following sentences:
·         It needs to be remembered that it is people that wreak havoc on nature not technology.
·         In short it is how modern technology is used that counts
5.       Why is including thinking machines in the process of conserving nature a good idea?
6.       Read the story of S’Albufera national park to the end. What conclusion can we draw from this story: It is necessary to resort to ………….because the whole carp problem is ……………
7.       Read the account of the project designed by Fletcher to the end. What makes this project of aerial planting efficient? Tweak the text to make it fit the question.
8.       Look at the same section. The main stumbling block for this project is … 
9.       Read the examples of the use of technology to conserve nature. What conclusion can we draw from these examples?
10.   Read the story of the bees to the end. What is the conclusion we can draw from this section:
·         There is usually a techno-fix for most problems in the modern world
·         Robo-bees are really spyware designed as pollinators
·         Because robo-bees don’t biodegrade, the lack of bees will disrupt the food chain
·         Scientists are still a long way off from being able to fix the bee problem using tech
11.   What is the take home point for the whole section?
12.   Read the two paragraphs concerning pest control. Now watch the short video:  https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/quot-nrh090315.php We understand from this section that in the current situation, we seem to have no choice but to resort to….in order to protect the coral reefs.
13.   Where in the paragraph beginning “But” would you place the following sentences:
·         There are some very real concerns about devices used for conservation
·         It seems very clear that we need to understand the implications of this new venture
14.   It seems very likely that we will have to accept the fact that…
15.   Read the section of the text describing machines as gardeners. The basic assumption is that these machines would be useful because they would…
16.   Like The Garden of Eden, the wilderness is now lost to us because…
17.   Wildness is described in the text as ……….
18.   The next section of the text concerns reactions to machines as gardeners. Read it to the end. Mark the sentences below T/F according to this section.
·         Humans don’t know what they are doing
·         Humans are bound to make things worse
·         Humans are gambling with the future of the planet
·         Humans are just trying to play God
19.   Refer to the same section. What is Kingsnorth’s major objection to machines as gardeners?
20.   Where, in the paragraph, describing Ellis’ views would you place the following sentence: He has a healthy distrust of robots as gardeners
21.   Read the last section of the text, the rebuttal or the refutation.  For robotics to work the major focus should be on….Plus, we don’t really have any choice but to use robots because…
22.   Where in the paragraph beginning “After all…” would you place the following  sentence:
·         If we set the right goals and have the right attitude, automated systems could be extremely beneficial. (There are two places it could go depending on what connectors you use; find both)
WRITING TASK
Read the last paragraph of the text and write an essay in which you discuss to what extent you agree with the writer. Refer back to all that has been covered, the text and the videos.
ALGORITHMIC WILDERNESS KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This futuristic text covers the major arguments concerning the use of robots, drones and similar technologies in agriculture and conservation. The text is a well planned argumentative text written in a way students will recognize at once. The writing task demands that students draw on three videos as well as the text so it should be challenging.
1.       To leave the phone at home and to walk through the nearby woods / Because nature and technology seem to pull us in different directions
2.       The free market economy
3.       Beware of Humans
4.       After the first sentence, before “You might…”/ Right at the end
5.       Humans are grown so powerful that they have become a force of nature – and forces of nature are those things which, by definition, are beyond the power of humans to control.
6.       New smart technologies / (an) intractable (environmental war)
7.       It takes less time and the cost is less
8.       Preventing forests from being destroyed for agriculture and forestry in the first place
9.       Conservationists are exploiting technology to guide decision making. (Make the wording of your answer fit the question)
10.    The last
11.   We should beware of the seductive and misleading idea that these inventions present a quick techno-fix.
12.   A robot capable of identifying the crown-of-thorn starfish and injecting it with poison
13.   After the first sentence, before the sentence beginning “Autonomous…” / Right at the end.
14.   Any forest would be preferable to no forest
15.   Cut out destructive, top-down human intelligence from the picture
16.   Humans have irrevocably changed the climate, acidified the oceans, and altered the conditions of life for almost every species on the planet
17.   A sense of awe and astonishment that seem to be attainable in landscapes that have been transformed by humans, so long as the influence of other natural processes is evident
18.   All true
19.   All we can do is argue for more of the same: more onward momentum, more technological mediation, more control
20.   After the first sentence
21.   Genuine conservation / Robotics, sensors and machine learning could adaptively enhance natural processes much better than we have been able to (at least up till now)
22.   Preceded by however, right at the beginning / Preceded by in short, right at the end.


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