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Step 1
Begin the activity by inviting students to brainstorm all the ways in which the world 100 years ago was different from our world today. You might jump-start the discussion by mentioning that in the first years of the 20th century, movies and cars were pretty much unknown. From there it will be fairly easy for them to produce a lengthy list of inventions that their great-great-grandparents would not have seen. As the brainstorming list grows, ask kids to think about how this new technology changed people’s lives. For example, without airplanes and telephones, when someone immigrated to a new country, it was likely that his family would never talk to or see him again.
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Step 2
Write a date 100 years from today’s date on the board. Ask students to brainstorm what kinds of inventions might be part of everyday life by that date. Remind students that brainstorming is just that; there are no correct answers, and you’re working on the assumption that anything might be possible. Again, steer conversation to include consequences and benefits of the suggested inventions. Also brainstorm other ways in which life might be changed 100 years in the future. For example, students might want to talk about life expectancy as well as the physical and mental capabilities of future human beings.
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Step 3
Divide students into groups. Working in a round-robin rotation, give each group the opportunity to choose from four to six ideas generated on the board. That group will then divide those ideas up so that each group member is assigned to write about one. For example, “Computers of the Future” might be the title of one student’s writing assignment. Each assignment should consist of a topic sentence and at least a half-dozen developing ideas, each written in complete sentences. The writing assignment should end with an assessment by the student of whether or not this invention would be generally more positive or negative in its value to future human beings.
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Step 4
Hang a futuristic mural on a wall. Ask each group to come up with a “future-sounding” name for the individual the group is to draw on its section of the mural. Once the individual is completed, each member of the group will draw spokes from this future person to a small illustration. That illustration, in turn, should have spokes emanating from it on which will be listed basic facts. For example, the future computer would have lines next to it listing its newest features. Perhaps another student would have invented a mind-reading chip to be implanted in the future individual’s head. Spokes coming from the head would be filled with facts about how this invention works.
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Step 5
Once all the parts of the mural are completed, allow students plenty of time to “tour” the future world. Invite discussion about which inventions they would most like to see come to fruition, which ones might cause problems, and which ones they consider the most unlikely.
