Out of the rabbit hole

Time Needed: 25 minutes

Supplies Needed:

• One or more classroom- and age-appropriate news articles about algorithms, adjusted for language, reading level and accessibility as needed, with enough copies for the class (unless you are going to read it aloud to them).
• Enough copies of the “Rabbit hole worksheet” for each learner.
• Explain to learners what is meant by a “rabbit hole”. The concept comes from Alice in Wonderland, where the main character falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in all sorts of unexpected places. The same thing can happen online, because the algorithms lead us to places we didn’t mean to go.

Learning Goal: Learners will demonstrate understanding of how algorithms work to steer them toward certain topics they may not want to know about.

Activate (5 minutes):

• Ask learners to read the article or to listen as you read the article aloud to them.
• While you (or they) are reading, they should note the main idea in the central rabbit hole on their worksheet.

Acquire (10 minutes):

• When the article is finished, ask the learners to share what they wrote in as the main idea of the article.
• Encourage learners to complete the rabbit hole worksheet according to the instructions, and choose some of the eventual ideas that they feel are furthest from the original idea.

Apply (10 minutes):

• Ask learners to share some of their more surprising “rabbit holes” and how they came to those ideas.
• Explain to students that the reason each of them may have come to end up in different rabbit holes is because of their unique experiences and previous understandings. Algorithms work the same way to customize our experiences, but can still lead us into unfamiliar or unwanted places.