Science

|

7th, 8th, 9th

Interview AI about microplastics in aquatic ecosystems

Let students interview AI subject matter experts to better understand the impact of microplastics in the Great Lakes.

Screenshot of tutor page showing the start of the conversation, tutor objective, and the grading rubric.
Screenshot of tutor page showing the start of the conversation, tutor objective, and the grading rubric.
Screenshot of tutor page showing the start of the conversation, tutor objective, and the grading rubric.

Teaching goals

Stellar group projects require many rounds of feedback, both from teachers and sometimes even subject matter experts. This environmental science teacher has groups of students do a project every year where they develop solutions for reducing the amount of microplastics in the Great Lakes. Typically, finding and scheduling time with experts takes a lot of time, during which students can only do their best to work off of assumptions.

To provide students with more cycles of conversation and iteration, this teacher trained a Flint tutor to act as a subject matter expert and project consultant. The teacher attached articles and websites from trusted sources like the NIH and The Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Learning objective:

Act as a subject matter expert who specializes in research about microplastics in the Great Lakes. Students are working on proposals for addressing the problem of these microplastics and will turn to you as a source of knowledge and feedback.

NIH | Microplastics in Freshwater

Alliance for the Great Lakes | Great Lakes Plastic Pollution

Extra customization

The teacher turned off grading for this tutor to make sure students knew it was an extra resources available to them, but not directly a part of their assessment. If the teacher wanted to make the feedback given by the AI more specific to the goals of the project, they could attach a rubric or success criteria for Flint to reference in the setup. Then, turning on the ability for students to see the rubric may also help keep them on track to satisfy the requirements as they work on their projects.

Tutor settings with auto-grading turned off and show grading rubric turned on.

For the duration of the project, the teacher wanted to keep this tutor readily available for their students. They achieved this by setting it as the default of their class group, but an alternative could also be pinning the tutor to the top of the tutor list for the group. Without a deadline or timer, this tutor acted as a resource students could access anytime, anywhere.

Group page screenshot showing this tutor pinned to the top of the tutor list and highighted as the default tutor in the top right.

Student experience

Having access to this tutor allowed students to more quickly get to the point where they could dive deeper into the issues and solutions they were looking at. Also, by the time they can meet with real experts, they’ll be prepared to ask much more detailed and informed questions.

Screenshot of example student conversation where student is asking for resources from the AI expert.

Interacting with an AI expert in this way also simulates the process of getting feedback and insights from stakeholders in real-world projects. It helped prepare them for future collaboration and communication.

Extra customization

The teacher turned off grading for this tutor to make sure students knew it was an extra resources available to them, but not directly a part of their assessment. If the teacher wanted to make the feedback given by the AI more specific to the goals of the project, they could attach a rubric or success criteria for Flint to reference in the setup. Then, turning on the ability for students to see the rubric may also help keep them on track to satisfy the requirements as they work on their projects.

Tutor settings with auto-grading turned off and show grading rubric turned on.

For the duration of the project, the teacher wanted to keep this tutor readily available for their students. They achieved this by setting it as the default of their class group, but an alternative could also be pinning the tutor to the top of the tutor list for the group. Without a deadline or timer, this tutor acted as a resource students could access anytime, anywhere.

Group page screenshot showing this tutor pinned to the top of the tutor list and highighted as the default tutor in the top right.

Science

|

7th, 8th, 9th

Interview AI about microplastics in aquatic ecosystems

Screenshot of tutor page showing the start of the conversation, tutor objective, and the grading rubric.

Teaching goals

Stellar group projects require many rounds of feedback, both from teachers and sometimes even subject matter experts. This environmental science teacher has groups of students do a project every year where they develop solutions for reducing the amount of microplastics in the Great Lakes. Typically, finding and scheduling time with experts takes a lot of time, during which students can only do their best to work off of assumptions.

To provide students with more cycles of conversation and iteration, this teacher trained a Flint tutor to act as a subject matter expert and project consultant. The teacher attached articles and websites from trusted sources like the NIH and The Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Learning objective:

Act as a subject matter expert who specializes in research about microplastics in the Great Lakes. Students are working on proposals for addressing the problem of these microplastics and will turn to you as a source of knowledge and feedback.

NIH | Microplastics in Freshwater

Alliance for the Great Lakes | Great Lakes Plastic Pollution

Extra customization

The teacher turned off grading for this tutor to make sure students knew it was an extra resources available to them, but not directly a part of their assessment. If the teacher wanted to make the feedback given by the AI more specific to the goals of the project, they could attach a rubric or success criteria for Flint to reference in the setup. Then, turning on the ability for students to see the rubric may also help keep them on track to satisfy the requirements as they work on their projects.

Tutor settings with auto-grading turned off and show grading rubric turned on.

For the duration of the project, the teacher wanted to keep this tutor readily available for their students. They achieved this by setting it as the default of their class group, but an alternative could also be pinning the tutor to the top of the tutor list for the group. Without a deadline or timer, this tutor acted as a resource students could access anytime, anywhere.

Group page screenshot showing this tutor pinned to the top of the tutor list and highighted as the default tutor in the top right.

Student experience

Having access to this tutor allowed students to more quickly get to the point where they could dive deeper into the issues and solutions they were looking at. Also, by the time they can meet with real experts, they’ll be prepared to ask much more detailed and informed questions.

Screenshot of example student conversation where student is asking for resources from the AI expert.

Interacting with an AI expert in this way also simulates the process of getting feedback and insights from stakeholders in real-world projects. It helped prepare them for future collaboration and communication.

Other Science teacher testimonials:

"Flint allowed students to ask questions about molecules they did not understand or pathways that were unfamiliar. Students were engaged as they had a personal tutor that would guide them through complex material at their pace and level of understanding. What had once been a frustrating experience became student-driven content formation."

Cheryl Cossel headshot

Cheryl Cossel

Biology and Pharmaceuticals teacher at Episcopal

Spark AI-powered learning at your school.

Get a free trial for up to 80 users at your school.

Watch the video

Spark AI-powered learning at your school.

Get a free trial for up to 80 users at your school.

Watch the video

Spark AI-powered learning at your school.

Get a free trial for up to 80 users at your school.

Watch the video