Living forever – is it possible?

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – Explore neuroscience vocabulary including terms like “neuron,” “neurotransmitter,” and “artificial” while discussing mind uploading concepts through video comprehension activities.
• – Examine ethical implications of future technology by reading articles about living forever, watching videos about technological advances, and comparing different scientific possibilities.
• – Engage in philosophical discussions about immortality, consciousness uploading, and which technological developments would be most useful for humanity in this C2 lesson.

In this C2 lesson plan, students will practice using vocabulary related to future technology.

Warm-up

The lesson starts with a discussion about living forever.

Video: Uploading our minds

Before watching a video, the student is introduced to new vocabulary through a matching exercise (neuron, neurotransmitter, artificial, etc.). They watch the video explaining how scientists envision this happening and then discuss questions based on the video. Then, they read an excerpt written by a computational neuroscientist and discuss their thoughts on the ethical aspects of this technology. Finally, they watch another video about technological advances and discuss which they prefer and find more useful.

Reading for understanding: 

The student will read an article about living forever and discuss it with the teacher.

Review

The student reviews the vocabulary and grammar by completing sentences and answering wrap-up questions.