I have chosen 3 texts about brain implants.

Text 1

Brain Implants

A man who cannot move his arms or hands has used his thoughts to write on a computer screen. The man
has been paralyzed from the neck down for almost a decade. Scientists from Stanford University in the
USA implanted two tiny sensors into the man's brain. The scientists gave this method two names - "brain-
to-text" and "mindwriting". The man wants to remain anonymous, so scientists have called him T5. He
became paralyzed after suffering a spinal cord injury ten years ago. The implants have allowed T5 to use
his mind to write. He can write 90 characters (about 18 words) per minute. This is five words slower than
the average person writing a text message on a smartphone. The mindwriting system is very simple, but it
involved a lot of advanced technology. Scientists asked T5 to imagine holding a pen and then writing a
sentence on a paper. The sensors in T5's brain detected the activity in his brain as he imagined writing. A
computer decoded this activity into text on a screen. The scientists used a special algorithm to do this.
Professor Jaimie Henderson, a Stanford University researcher, hopes this research could help millions of
paralyzed people, and those who have lost the ability to speak, to write again. He said: "The goal is to
restore their ability to communicate by text." This technology may one day help anyone to write at the
speed of thought.

(Breakingnewsenglish.com)

Text no.2

ELON Musk's brain chip start-up could begin inserting technology into people's minds
later this year.
The implants built by California-based Neuralink will one day allow those with physical disabilities to
control a computer with their thoughts.
The company released a video last week of a brain-chipped monkey apparently playing video games with
its mind.
Similar technology could make its way to human test subjects by the end of the year if the start-up meets
a previous prediction from Musk.
The billionaire Tesla boss tweeted in February: "Neuralink is working super hard to ensure implant safety
& is in close communication with the FDA.
"If things go well, we might be able to do initial human trials later this year."
Founded in 2016, Neuralink is developing implantable brain chips that are inserted into regions of the
mind that control movement.
The company says the technology will one day help people with paralysis to control smartphones and
computers with their brain activity.
Eventually, Neuralink wants to provide implants that boost intelligence and potentially cure neurological
diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
The aim is to create a full brain interface within 25 years.
A three-minute clip released April 9 appears to show an adult macaque controlling simple video games
using brain signals alone.
According to the firm's video, the monkey, named Pager, had brain-machine interface (BMI) chips placed
in each side of his mind six weeks ago.
The primate has learned to interact with games on a computer to receive a banana smoothie delivered by a
steel tube attached to the machine.
Scientists can interact with his implants using an iPhone, "just as you might pair your phone to a
Bluetooth speaker", the video's narrator said.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/14632481/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-chip-humans-this-year/

Text no 3

How do neural implant work?

A neural implant is a device placed inside the body that interacts with neurons.

Neurons are cells that communicate in the language of electricity. They fire electrical impulses in
particular patterns, kind of like Morse code. An implant is a human-made device that is placed inside the
body via surgery or an injection.

A neural implant, then, is a device—typically an electrode of some kind—that’s inserted into the body,
comes into contact with tissues that contain neurons, and interacts with those neurons in some way.

With these devices, it’s possible to record native neural activity, allowing researchers to observe the
patterns by which healthy neural circuits communicate. Neural implants can also send pulses of electricity
to neurons, forcing the neurons to communicate in a different way.

In other words, neural implants enable scientists to hack into the nervous system. […] interventions
involving neural implants have the potential to become tremendously powerful medical tools.

Consider the functions of the nervous system: It controls thinking, seeing, hearing, feeling, moving, and
urinating, to name a few. It also controls many involuntary processes such as organ function and the
body’s inflammatory, respiratory, cardiovascular, and immune systems.

“Anything that the nervous system does could be helped or healed by an electrically active intervention—if
we knew how to do it,” says Gene Civillico, a neuroscientist at the NIH.

Task.

The three texts are connected in the sense that they all refer to brain implants and the way these can be
used in modern medicine.

I imagined a group of 9 students, divided into 3 groups. Thus 3 students in each group.

Before handing out the texts, the students will discuss a series of questions about technology and brain
implants, in order to activate knowledge about the subject.

These are the questions for the students:

What implants can we get currently?
2. Would you consider getting teeth implants one day?
3. Do you know anyone with implants?
4. What kind of implant would you like to receive?
5. Do you think we will have brain implants one day?

The next stage is to give the students the texts. Each group will get a different text.

They need to read the text first by themselves and then to discuss within the group the information from
the text and to extract the unknown words from the dictionary if need be. Together, they need to create a
presentation of the text. The teacher has already prepared a set of visuals for them to choose from. The
pictures do not all relate to the text, so they have to discuss the best options. They also have a limited
amount of words that they can use on their presentation board.

Once the presentations are done, the groups are reorganized so that the new groups have each students
from the other groups. This is easily done by asking students to count to 3 in their groups and then all
“ones” will form a group, “twos” a group and “threes” a group.

The next stage is for the students to present the material they have prepared to the other students. At the
end of all the presentations, they all need to decide on how to reorganize the presentations into creating
one single presentation.

Instructions for the learners

Brainstorming activity.

“I will give you some questions and you will think about them for a minute on your own and then discuss
them with your partner.”

“Share with the class”

“Stand in a line and count to 3”

“Number one form a group, number 2 form a group and number 3 form a group”

“Read the text silently” “Discuss the text with the group, focusing on the parts you do not understand.
Use a dictionary if needed”

“You have a presentation sheet, markers and pictures. Choose the pictures relevant for your text. Use the
pictures to create a presentation of what you have read in the text. Use no more than 100 words. “

“Count to three in your groups”

“Number one form a group, number 2 form a group and number 3 form a group”

“Each student in the group will present their article.”

“Together recreate the presentation to form one which includes all three texts”

“Post the presentations on a wall and think about 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of brain implants.
Discuss in your group. Tell the class”

My students are a group of adult students with jobs ranging from doctor to engineer and cleaner.
Their lever is upper-intermediate. Their interests are quite different, but this is a subject that has
long been discussed and everyone will be able to have an opinion about it and everyone will be at
least a bit curious about the information in the text.