Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids

by Angie Smibert, Alexis Cornell (Illustrator)

Overview

Artificial intelligence is changing the way humans communicate with each other and the world. In Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids, middle school kids learn about the history and technology of artificial intelligence while undertaking student-led science and engineering projects designed for a hands-on immersive learning experience. Includes 25 STEAM activities that encourage the development of important skills, including comparing and contrasting, looking for detailed evidence, making deductions, and applying critical analysis to a wide variety of media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619306738
Publisher:	Nomad Press
Publication date:	08/03/2018
Series:	Nomad Press Build It Yourself Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

Angie Smibert is the author of more than 20 nonfiction books about science and technology for kids. Some of those titles include Building Better Robots; How it Works: The Internet; All about Coding; and 12 Great Moments that Changed Internet History. Before writing full time, she helped pioneer online training at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Besides writing, she also teaches writing and human-computer interaction at Indiana University East. She lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

Table of Contents

Timeline

Introduction: What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Take a Turing Test

Chapter 1: The Hunt for Hal: Early Forms of AI
Explore Scratch! Make a Maze Game
Code on Paper

Chapter 2: Good Morning Alexa: AI Today
Build a Model of a Neuron
Neurons Firing
Perceptron
Make a Neutral Network
Detecting Patterns
Learn to Play Go

Chapter 3: AI in the Future
Exploring the Uncanny Valley
Crafting the Uncanny Valley
Meme the Future!
Make a Robot
Make a Bugbot
Self-Driving Cars Today

Chapter 4: Do We Need AI?
Design a Rescue Robot
Design a Space Robot
Spot an Algorithm in the Wild
Design a Caregiver or Companion Robot

Chapter 5: AI in Science Fiction
Write Your Own Laws of Robotics
Write Your Own Short Story or Poem About AIS or Robots
Compare and Contrast

Chapter 6: The Debate around AI
Debate the Great AI Debate!
Can an AI Do Your Dream Job?

Glossary
Metric Conversions Resources
Essential Questions
Index

Editorial Reviews

Captures the dream and inspires the imagination of AI all the while keeping it gently grounded in thinking about AI’s realities. It’s really a primer for all ages and thought provoking for all readers.

Dr. Eugene Santos Jr.

Praise for other books in the series

Innovators

National Science Teachers Association Recommends
Innovators is a magnificent compilation of vignettes about creative and critical thinkers who have contributed to solving problems and improving existing products or processes. . . Innovators is a wonderful book. It is engaging, readable, and full of relevant information about important inventions and innovations and the context behind them. Readers will appreciate focus on equity of gender and race among the innovators throughout the book. This book does not contain glossy color photographs, but has cartoon style illustrations throughout. Innovators would be useful for teaching science or STEM classes, for background reading in classes, or can be read and used at home just because it is such an engaging book. As a fifth grade science teacher, I highly recommend getting a copy for any third to sixth grade classroom. Read the complete review online.

Learning Magazine
“What do Google and chocolate chip cookies have in common? Both were created by innovators! Learn about the people and products that have changed the world; then get your students innovating with 25 STEAM projects.”

3-D Engineering

Science Books and Films
++: Highly Recommended
“. . . This book is a wonderful resource for teachers and parents to use in the classroom and at home. It gets back to the basics with exciting activities that are hands-on that support the STEM program. When kids use their hands and work together to create a prototype, the outcomes are much higher when they are actively engaged in this type of learning. It gives students confidence in math while building problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. This is a book that teachers, parents, boys, and girls will enjoy as they learn about the many facets of the engineering world.”

School Library Connection, April 2016
“Author Vicky V. May has produced a procedural book for the 21st century. Information covers electricity, chemistry, earth science, physics, and energy. . . The text, with fast facts, sidebars, and text boxes, is kid-friendly and the topics fit the science curriculum. Its guided inquiry approach makes this a useful tool for students seeking science fair ideas, teachers selecting creative outcomes to lessons, and learners who thrive on hands-on projects. Cartoon-like illustrations supplement the “how-to” aspect of the book nicely. Glossary. Index. Recommended”

From the Publisher