By: Henry Mance
Published: Aeon, https://aeon.co/essays/tech-broke-our-relationship-with-wilderness-can-it-mend-it-too
Level of Difficulty:
***
BEFORE YOU READ
·
Tiny, Robotic Bees Could Change the World | National
Geographic
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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