Section outline

  • Lesson Goal: Discuss robots that blur the line between machines and living organisms – including robots that use living cells or resemble living things – and consider what it means for a robot to be “alive.”

    • Micro-Topic 1: Bio-Hybrid Robots (Robots with Living Parts) (Goal: Discover how scientists combine biology with robotics, for example using living muscle cells or neurons in robots, and why they do this.)

    • Karate Robotics L21 MT1 FREE SCORM package

    • Micro-Topic 2: Evolving and Self-Reproducing Robots (Goal: Understand the concept of robots that can evolve or even self-replicate in some way – for instance, algorithms that let robots “evolve” designs, or experimental robots that build copies of themselves.)

    • Karate Robotics L21 MT2 FREE SCORM package

    • Micro-Topic 3: Are Robots Alive? (Goal: Reflect on the differences between living organisms and robots, and debate what it would take for a robot to be considered truly alive, if that’s possible.)

    • Karate Robotics L21 MT3 FREE SCORM package