Light

Ages: 5-11
Contributor:
Sam Collins

Use our teaching ideas for this short film about an inventor and her assistant robot.

Which of the ideas below will you try?

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

Stop the film at 0:34. Ask the children to make a prediction about what the film will be about based on just the title and setting.
Stop again at 0:38. What is happening in the garage? Who or what are you expecting to see inside?
Discuss the character of the robot. Does it remind you of anything else (for example, it purrs)? Why do you think the filmmakers have done that?
What adjectives would you use to describe the inventor (Charly) and her robot (Bob-e)?
Make a storyboard of the story.
Stop the film at these points – 0:52, 1:03, 1:31, 2:10, 2:16, 2:52, 3:04. How is Charly feeling?
Write a newspaper report about the strange events!
Imagine you are Charly’s neighbour and write a letter of complaint about what has happened.
Write some dialogue between Charly and Bob-e.
Write the sequel – What happens next?

List the sources of light in the film.
Visit this site to find out about electricity and how it gets to your home.
Research the work of female scientists in different fields; for example, Marie Curie, Mary Anning, Ada Lovelace, Jane Goodall.
What else could Charly do with the rubbish? Could some of it be recycled? Find out about recycling at Recycle Now.

Program a robot to perform a simple task.
Design a scratch game based on the film. For example, can you make Bob-e move around the garage without bumping into anything?

Research female inventors, for example:
- Grace Hopper, a computer inventor who coined the term “bug” for a problem in a computer program when she had to remove moths from the computer!
- Rosalind Franklin, who discovered DNA,
- Maria Beasley, who invented the life raft,
- Mary Anderson, who invented the windscreen wiper.
In the film, Charly welds the machine (1:06 – 1:08). Why does she need safety glasses? What other things is welding used for?
Design your own generator to make electricity from rubbish.

Look at the sketches for the film on the film website and design an item or character that could be used in the film.
Stop the film at 1:04 and look at all the detail in that shot; the coffee, the dribble down the side of the mug, the coffee stain on the notes, and the photo of Charly and Rob-e. These details help to build up a picture of what Charly is like. Still-life paintings work in a similar way, telling their own story. Look at some examples of still-life paintings and had a go at making your own. For example, Cezanne’s Still Life with Water Jug or Picasso’s Still Life: Fruits and Pitcher.

Imagine the conversation between Charly and Bobe-e from 0:52 – 1:03. What might they say to each other? What is it that makes Charly try again?
Charly’s machine doesn’t work as she expected. When has this kind of thing happened to you? What did you do about it?
Charly and Bob-e work as a team. When have you worked in a team? What happened?