Dustin

Ages: 5-11
Contributor:
Sam Collins

In this comedy, Dustin the pampered pug is very annoyed when an automatic cleaning robot moves in.

Watch this video with your children and then try some of our teaching and activity ideas below.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Stop the video at 0:45. What have you learnt about Dustin from this first part of the film? What do you think will happen next?
Stop the film at 0:59 – What do you think is in the box? Start and stop immediatly at 1:00. What does Dustin think might be in the box?
Make a chart showing the similarities and difference between the two Dustins (the dog and the cleaner).
Stop the film at 1:50 when the cleaning robot sucks up the treat. Make a list of the language you could use to describe how Dustin is feeling.
Write a narration for the section between 3:04 and 3:31.
Make a storyboard or comic of the story.
Use the Class Tools SMS generator to write a text conversation between the owner and their friend, or perhaps the pug and the cleaning robot.
Write a diary entry for what the pug’s life was like before the robot came.
Write the next chapter; what will the pug and the robot get up to next?
Write an advertisement for the robot cleaner. How would you persuade people to buy it?

Make a fact file or information poster, showing how to look after a pet properly.
Watch this video and write your own explanation about how thunder and lightning are formed.

Design a route and program a programmable robot, such as a roamer or beebot, to follow it.
Visit Turtle Academy and learn how to program an onscreen turtle in Logo.
Convert a clip of video into slow motion using Clideo. What effect does it have? Try different speeds, which one is the most effective?

Design an automatic gadget to perform a household task.
Write an explanation of how you think robot cleaners work, then see how accurate your ideas are by watching this video.
Make this fun pug bookmark from Red Ted Art.

Look at some examples of pugs in art and compare them to Dustin:
- The Painter and his Pug by Hogarth,
- The Marquesa de Pontejos by Goya,
- Young Lady in a Boat by Tissot.

Compose a simple tune for Dustin the pug, and another for the robot cleaner. Use them to make a new soundtrack for the film.

Research the history of the pug on this great page from Kiddle. Can you make a timeline using the information?

Dustin the pug and Dustin the cleaner become friends in the film, even though at the beginning this looks very unlikely. When does the relationship change? Can a robot really be a friend?
Think of other pairs of unlikely friends in books and films. Why do they become and stay friends?