In this lesson, students will learn what the term “ethics” means, and then apply it to the growing field of artificial intelligence. First, students will evaluate a series of scenarios and consider the ethical dilemmas presented in each. Then, after watching two videos on the topic of artificial intelligence (the AlterEgo technology) and reading an article, students will create a persuasive presentation answering this question: “What rules should we create to make sure artificial intelligence continues to expand in an ethical manner?”

Estimated time required: 2-3 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Design Software, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

Students will gain an introduction of the course and the optional accompanying book, "Plastic, Ahoy!" by Patricia Newman. The book chronicles the research vessel, New Horizon, and its scientists and researchers on a journey to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Students will exercise critical thinking and creativity as they start to explore their own ideas about Robotics and how their ideas could be applied to scenarios on the New Horizon voyage or in their own life.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

This lesson focuses on an introduction and overview of the Verizon Innovative Learning Artificial Intelligence + Robotics (AIR) Course, defining foundational vocabulary for AIR including algorithm, computer program and pseudocode. It will also provide a basic explanation of the vocabulary terms, how they relate to robotics and how students can apply these ideas themselves. Students will also see examples and practice how to write pseudocode.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

This lesson focuses on an introduction to Artificial Intelligence and an overview of how AI fits into the AIR Verizon Innovative Learning Course. Students will gain an overview of the Technology used in the AIR course, review the concepts of robotics, algorithms, and programming and how these concepts work with AI. Additionally, students will continue learning about the New Horizon Voyage from Plastic Ahoy! while asking critical thinking questions about how robotics and AI can help on the New Horizon and overall, in everyday life.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

In Lesson 4 students will continue learning about Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and the preparation for the New Horizon Voyage. Students will review the idea of Entrepreneurship and how we can relate entrepreneurial ideas to the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics by looking at specific problems the New Horizon voyage might face as well as problems that might exist within their own lives or communities. AI and Robotics innovations face ethical issues such as AI bias and students will gain an introduction to this concept.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

Students will learn about Sustainability and its 3 pillars: Environmental Protection, Social Development and Economic Growth. "Plastic, Ahoy!" author Patricia Newman introduces herself and the book. If you have access to the "Plastic, Ahoy!" book, students should read Chapter 1 in this Lesson. Finally, students will complete a brainstorming/research and sketch of an Ocean Sustainability PSA which they will then transfer to Scratch programming in a guided Activity at the end of the Lesson.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

Student groups create working radios by soldering circuit components supplied from AM radio kits. By carrying out this activity in conjunction with its associated lesson concerning circuits and how AM radios work, students are able to identify each circuit component they are soldering, as well as how their placement causes the radio to work. Besides reinforcing lesson concepts, students also learn how to solder, which is an activity that many engineers perform regularly giving students a chance to be able to engage in a real-life engineering activity.

For students interested in studying biomechanical engineering, especially in the field of surgery, this lesson serves as an anatomy and physiology primer of the abdominopelvic cavity. Students are introduced to the abdominopelvic cavity—a region of the body that is the focus of laparoscopic surgery—as well as the benefits and drawbacks of laparoscopic surgery. Understanding the abdominopelvic environment and laparoscopic surgery is critical for biomechanical engineers who design laparoscopic surgical tools.

Students learn about the concepts of accuracy and approximation as they pertain to robotics, gain insight into experimental accuracy, and learn how and when to estimate values that they measure. Students also explore sources of error stemming from the robot setup and rounding numbers.

At this point in the unit, students have learned about Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle, Bernoulli's principle, and why above-ground storage tanks are of major concern in the Houston Ship Channel and other coastal areas. In this culminating activity, student groups act as engineering design teams to derive equations to determine the stability of specific above-ground storage tank scenarios with given tank specifications and liquid contents. With their floatation analyses completed and the stability determined, students analyze the tank stability in specific storm conditions. Then, teams are challenged to come up with improved storage tank designs to make them less vulnerable to uplift, displacement and buckling in storm conditions. Teams present their analyses and design ideas in short class presentations.

Students are provided with an introduction to above-ground storage tanks, specifically how and why they are used in the Houston Ship Channel. The introduction includes many photographic examples of petrochemical tank failures during major storms and describes the consequences in environmental pollution and costs to disrupted businesses and lives, as well as the lack of safety codes and provisions to better secure the tanks in coastal regions regularly visited by hurricanes. Students learn how the concepts of Archimedes' principle and Pascal's law act out in the form of the uplifting and buckling seen in the damaged and destroyed tanks, which sets the stage for the real-world engineering challenge presented in the associated activity to design new and/or improved storage tanks that can survive storm conditions.

Students work as physicists to understand centripetal acceleration concepts. They also learn about a good robot design and the accelerometer sensor. They also learn about the relationship between centripetal acceleration and centripetal force governed by the radius between the motor and accelerometer and the amount of mass at the end of the robot's arm. Students graph and analyze data collected from an accelerometer, and learn to design robots with proper weight distribution across the robot for their robotic arms. Upon using a data logging program, they view their own data collected during the activity. By activity end , students understand how a change in radius or mass can affect the data obtained from the accelerometer through the plots generated from the data logging program. More specifically, students learn about the accuracy and precision of the accelerometer measurements from numerous trials.

In this activity, students explore the effect of chemical erosion on statues and monuments. They use chalk to see what happens when limestone is placed in liquids with different pH values. They also learn several things that engineers are doing to reduce the effects of acid rain.

Students conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects.

Students are introduced to the differences between acids and bases and how to use indicators, such as pH paper and red cabbage juice, to distinguish between them.

Students construct rockets from balloons propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket.

Students compare and contrast passive and active transport by playing a game to model this phenomenon. Movement through cell membranes is also modeled, as well as the structure and movement typical of the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane. Concentration gradient, sizes, shapes and polarity of molecules determine the method of movement through cell membranes. This activity is associated with the Test your Mettle phase of the legacy cycle.

This activity first asks the students to study the patterns of bird flight and understand that four main forces affect the flight abilities of a bird. They will study the shape, feather structure, and resulting differences in the pattern of flight. They will then look at several articles that feature newly designed planes and the birds that they are modeled after. The final component of this activity is to watch the Nature documentary, "Raptor Force" which chronicles the flight patterns of birds, how researchers study these animals, and what interests our military and aeronautical engineers about these natural adaptations. This activity serves as an extension to the biomimetics lesson. Although students will not be using this information in the design process for their desert resort, it provides interesting information pertaining to the current use of biomimetics in the field of aviation. Students may extend their design process by using this information to create a means of transportation to and from the resort if they chose to.

In this lesson, students learn how to use the Micro:bit expansion board to wire and program smart circuits with wires, LED modules, and the expansion board. They will learn to use "digital write" and "pause" to program LEDs to turn on and off at certain times.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

In this lesson, students learn how to wire and program the button modules for the Micro:bit expansion board in order to program a basketball possession arrow.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.