Driverless Cars: Yay or Nay?
This B2 lesson explores autonomous vehicles through a real Waymo self-driving car experience in San Francisco. Students learn 10 transportation vocabulary terms, watch a 5-minute video about problems with driverless taxis, and debate ethical dilemmas using the Moral Machine website. The lesson includes discussion questions about safety, accessibility, and the future of transportation technology.
Lesson overview
- Learn 10 vocabulary terms related to transportation and autonomous vehicle experiences
- Watch and analyze real footage of problems in a Waymo driverless taxi
- Debate ethical dilemmas about autonomous vehicle decision-making using interactive website
- Develop critical thinking skills through discussions on technology, safety, and accessibility
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Video Length | Lesson Time |
| B2 / Upper-Intermediate | 10 words | 5:00 min | 60-80 min |
Vocabulary
- Pick up
- Drop off
- Chillax
- Be at loss
- Make a left/right
- Back to square one
- Feeling trapped
- Crutches
- Frustrated
- Ordinary
Contents
- Lead-in 1
- Lead-in 2
- Vocabulary preview
- Vocabulary
- Video
- Comprehension
- True or false
- Vocabulary practice
- Comments
- Discussion
- Optional article
Begin with the word selection activity on page 1 where students pick three words that describe their feelings about driverless cars. Then move to the five discussion questions on page 2 about traffic, safety, accidents, environment, and whether people will still learn to drive.
Pages 3-4 introduce 10 vocabulary terms like “pick up,” “drop off,” “back to square one,” and “feeling trapped.” Students identify which words they know, then learn the rest. The video on page 5 is a 5-minute documentary where a TV journalist rides in a Waymo and everything goes wrong. Students take notes on all the problems.
Page 6 has students describe nine specific problems from the video: initial confusion, traffic light misreading, wrong destination, locked doors, lack of communication, support calls, navigation issues, accessibility concerns, and frustration. Page 7 has six true/false statements. Page 9 is vocabulary practice where students replace highlighted words in 10 sentences.
Page 10 shows YouTube comments for students to react to. The Moral Machine on page 11 gets heated. Students visit the website and decide what self-driving cars should do in crash scenarios where someone has to die. They explain their choices and usually disagree strongly. Page 12 links to an optional BBC article about the study results for students who want to read more.
