The Robot and the Butterfly

A beautiful butterfly lands on the broken bars of a prison cell window. What will it find within?

Take care to view this video before using it with children. Some children might find the content upsetting.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English:

• Write the story of how the robot came to be in prison and how the bar got broken.
• On the first viewing, stop the film at different points and ask the children to predict what will happen. For example, try stopping the film at 0:04, 0:13, 0:27 and 0:56.
• The filmmaker originally gave this film the title “Freedom”. Which title do you prefer? Why? What other titles would work well for this film?
• Write the story from the point of view of an onlooker in one of the other cells.
• Create a list of vocabulary to describe the robot, and another for the butterfly. Compare the two lists. Do they share any words? Why do you think that is?
• Make a comic strip based on the story.
• Write some dialogue that the robot might say to the butterfly.
• Create a non-fiction presentation about either robots or butterflies.
• Have a discussion about why the robot acted as it did.
• Collect verbs and adverbs to describe how the characters move.

Maths:

• Try some of our symmetry activities.
• Revise the properties of a sphere with our 3D Shape posters. Is a sphere a good shape for a cell?

Science:

• Learn about the Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

Computing:

• Using Scratch, create a game where the butterfly tries to escape from the robot.
• Animate a walking animal, like the butterfly on the robot’s hand.

Design Technology:

• Try making your own robotic hand with simple supplies.

Art:

• Create symmetrical butterfly prints using folded paper and paint.
• Make a sketch of a scene from the film.
• Look at the images made by Ai-Da, a robotic artist. Discuss what the children think about them. What about AI-generated art in general? How do they feel about it?

Music:

• Discuss why the music stops.
• Use percussion instruments to create a new soundtrack.

History:

• Research the history of robotics. This page has a lot of information, presented in chronological order.

Physical Education:

• Challenge children to move like the butterfly and then like the robot. How are the movements different? How does it feel to make those movements?

Languages:

• Learn the words for butterfly and robot in the language you are studying and in other languages. Which words are similar, and which ones are different?

PSHE:

• Discuss why people sometimes act in strange or unkind ways. Why might they do that? How can we help someone who acts like that?