Year 8

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What is science fiction genre?

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often
in a futuristic setting.

It is an unrealistic speculation of what might happen in the future.

Science fiction or ‘sci-fi’ is an exciting and popular genre for television writers, film directors and authors.

Star wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qn_spdM5Zg

Can you think of any other examples of sci-fi movies or story books?

Fantastic four – Justice – The oblivion – Midnight Sky – Avatar – Interstellar – The Extinction – Cosmo Ball –
Transformers – The Matrix – Gemini Man – Jupiter Ascending – Space Sweepers
 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVk9vFVXeos)

The story follows a teenage girl named Tally Youngblood who lives several centuries from
now in a futuristic city where you're a "littlie" until you turn twelve, when you go to live in
an ugly dorm.

Uglies are educated into thinking they're hideous until they turn 16, when they get an
operation that turns them into beautiful "Pretties." Right after the operation, they are
"New Pretties": self-absorbed fools whose only purpose in life seems to be to party.
"Middle Pretties" have picked their professions and gone through a second, minor operation that makes them
look older and wiser; "Late Pretties," or "Crumblies," are parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.

The point of these operations is to stop wars and disagreements among people just because they look different
from one another, and it is later discovered that the operation gives people brain damage eliminating disputes,
anger, unhappiness, creativity, despair, or a desire to be different.

Some Science Fiction Writing Prompts

- A rocket ship has broken up and the four crew members are drifting away from each other in space. They
can contact each other by radio, but it will gradually get fainter. They will never see each other again, so
they can say things to each other they always wanted to, but never dared.

- The sun dies slowly. Gradually the earth grows colder. The ice-caps spread. A new ice-age has come; the
world is grey under a red wintry sun which has shrunk to a disc in the sky.

How to end your story?

Here are some endings to science fiction stories.

A) The astronaut closed the hatch door and breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to leave this wretched,
dangerous planet. He’d signed up for adventure and risk, but this was going too far. He programmed the
shuttle for the journey back to Earth and pushed the launch button. Home. He would be glad to be back…

B) Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, the hatch door closed. He’d nearly been trapped. This harsh,
dangerous place would have been his grave. The thought made him shudder. About to press the launch
button, a horrible feeling crept over him. What was it? Then, it struck him: the footprints he had been
following, hadn’t he seen some outside the rocket when he ran in? Hot, slimy breath ran down his neck as
he realised that he wasn’t alone.
 C) At last, they were free of the evil that had been plaguing them for so long. The sky was blue, the sun shone
and the birds sang in the trees. James walked across the field whistling and singing to himself. He hardly
had a care in the world. For this reason, he failed to spot the rotting flesh of the hand that broke through
the soil beneath him, snatched at his ankle and dragged him, screaming, under.

D) The astronaut was about to launch off this horrid place when the ship lurched to the left violently. The
lava had cut through the ground under the ship itself. WARNING, flashed across the computer screen.
HULL TEMPERATURE DANGEROUS! He realised, with a growing fear, that the ship must be in the lava itself.
The astronaut was faced with a simple choice: stay in the ship and burn; escape from the ship and be
marooned on this violent rock. His finger hovered over the eject button, sweat from the heat of the lava
and fear dripping down his face. Time was running out, he had to choose….

E) The creature grasped its gnarling claws at her arm. She was tired of fighting. Her body wanted her to stop.
Her mind urged, go on, just a little further, Kate. She ran. The pain was incredible. The pursuit felt infinite.
She turned a corner and she saw him. He was infected, too.

Science Fiction Vocabulary

Word Meaning

Alien

Android

Artificial Intelligence

Astronaut

Bionic

Black hole

Clones/Cloning

Cyborg

Earth-like

Extraterrestrial
 Flying saucer

Force field

Futuristic

Galactic

Galaxy

Gaseous

Gravity/anti-gravity

Hostile

Hovercraft

Humanoid

Hyperspace

Hyperdrive

Inhospitable

Interstellar

Laser

Launch

Martian

Meteorite

Molten

Mortal

Mutant

Mutation

Nova

Orbit/orbiter

Robot

Sentient
 Space capsule

Spacecraft

Spaceship

Space shuttle

Starship

Teleportation

Terraforming

UFO

(unidentified flying
object)

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