Year 7, unit 2
Classification of organisms
Name: .......................................................................... Class: .......................... Date: ......................
Lesson 1: Why we classify
Extension worksheet:
Living or not?
Part A
Many people have pets and for different reasons.
1. Conduct a survey of the different kinds of pets the members of your class have
and their reasons for having them. Represent the results as a pictograph.
2. In some places where people live there are restrictions on having pets. Explain
why this might be.
Robotic pets
Robotic pets include dogs, cats, rabbits and birds. They are artificially intelligent
machines made in the image of an animal that is normally kept as a pet. Giga Pets,
released in 1997 are recognised as being the ‘first virtual pet’. Today, there are many
more robotic pets and they are becoming increasingly popular for a variety reasons.
Use the internet to research the following robotic pets:


Paro, the seal
Aibo, the dog
3. Would Aibo and Paro be restricted as pets? Explain.
4. Would you prefer to have Paro or Aibo instead of an animal pet? Explain your
answer.
5. Some studies suggest that robotic pets have soothing effects on human patients
in a similar way that animal pets do. View the Paro Therapeutic Robot website
http://www.parorobots.com/ (accessed 6 August 2013) and explain why this might
be.
English computer scientist Alan Turing was a British mathematician and is
considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence. He tried to
form a rule to decide whether a machine such as a computer or robot, could be
called intelligent. His test for artificial intelligence was to see whether or not a human
could tell if they were interacting with a robot or another human being.
6. a) Create a test of your own that would help you decide whether or not a robotic
pet was intelligent like an animal pet.
b) According to your test, is Paro or Aibo intelligent? Why or why not?
Advances in technology seem to be blurring the boundary between living things and
robots. Scientists are now able to create robot models that seem to behave like living
things in some way.
© 2013 Australian Science Innovations. You may copy, distribute and adapt this material free of
charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain all copyright notices and
acknowledgements.
1
Year 7, unit 2
Classification of organisms
Name: .......................................................................... Class: .......................... Date: ......................
7. a) List the characteristics of living things.
b) Compare the characteristics of Paro and Aibo with those of living things. To
what extent are they similar and different?
Kirobo is the first talking robot sent into space to accompany a Japanese astronaut.
View the video clip showing Kirobo in action.
‘Kirobo is world’s first talking robot sent into space’, BBC News Asia
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23565121 (4 August 2013)
8. a) What has Kirobo been designed to do? Why?
b) What characteristics does Kirobo have that make it human-like?
Part B
Living organisms reproduce. They make copies that are, or become, like themselves.
Scientists have created a robot that can replicate itself. View the video ‘Robots
master reproduction’, Nature website,
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050509/full/news050509-6.html (11 May 2005)
1. Paro and Aibo are not able to replicate. Do you think there will come a time when
robots, more complex than Paro and Aibo, will be able to reproduce? Justify your
response.
Live brain cells have been incorporated in robots. See this website for an amazing
robot that uses live brain cells:
‘Rat-brain robot aids memory study’, BBC News website,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7559150.stm (13 August 2008)
2. Could robots that have live rat cells controlling them be classified as living?
Justify your answer.
3. If Paro and Aibo could reproduce and have components made of living cells that
control their activities, would you consider them to be living? Justify your answer.
4. ‘As science, technology and robotics progress it may be that robots could be
classified as living organisms.’ Comment on this statement.
© 2013 Australian Science Innovations. You may copy, distribute and adapt this material free of
charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain all copyright notices and
acknowledgements.
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