Students develop applied AI skills through text-based programming, real dataset work, and substantive projects, while deepening their ability to reason about AI systems as sociotechnical phenomena.
This unit introduces students to the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, computer science, and machine learning. Students will learn what AI is, how data is represented, and build their first predictive models using decision trees. They will gain hands-on experience with Python, Jupyter Notebooks, and scikit-learn while beginning to reason about AI as both a technical and sociotechnical phenomenon.
This unit dives into the two main paradigms of machine learning: supervised learning (learning from labeled examples) and unsupervised learning (finding patterns in unlabeled data). Students will implement classification and regression models, understand clustering algorithms, and gain practical experience evaluating model performance. They will work with real datasets and confront issues like overfitting, hyperparameter tuning, and feature scaling.
This unit introduces neural networks, the foundation of modern deep learning. Students will understand how neural networks learn through backpropagation, build networks using Keras, and explore specialized architectures like CNNs for image recognition. They will grapple with training challenges (overfitting, vanishing gradients) and learn practical solutions (regularization, early stopping). This unit demystifies deep learning and empowers students to build and reason about neural network systems.
This final unit shifts focus from technology to impact. Students will grapple with the ethical, fairness, and societal implications of AI systems. Through case studies, they will understand how bias enters models, how to evaluate fairness, and how to design responsible systems. The capstone project challenges students to propose a substantive AI system while addressing fairness, transparency, and deployment concerns. This unit prepares students to be thoughtful AI practitioners who consider not just "what can we build?" but "what should we build?"
Grade Level
9-10
Total Units
4