By: Scott Gelman, WTOP News | Read it >
Sitting inside a large tractor trailer in the parking lot on the side of River Bend Middle School, sixth grade student Adrian and his classmate each took a gem out of a bag until there was only one left.
A few minutes later, the pair used a sheet of paper to guide them through an exercise to figure out what makes something intelligent.
Then, a group of six students sitting around a table typed instructions into a computer, telling the device how to recognize the difference between cats and dogs.
For about an hour Wednesday afternoon, Adrian and his classmates discussed artificial intelligence. It’s one of three Loudoun County, Virginia, schools that will get a visit from Learning Undefeated’s Mobile eXploration Lab.
Using a $50,000 grant, sponsored by data center company Equinix and the Loudoun Education Foundation, the lab is visiting the schools with the hope of helping students gain interest in careers in STEM fields.
“People see artificial intelligence as, ‘Oh, it’s going to take over the world,’ but it’s really just humans (controlling) it,” Adrian told WTOP.
The lab will be at River Bend all week, and Principal Dave Shaffer said every hour, different classes participate in the sessions, making sure as many students as possible get to be involved in the activities.
They vary based on grade level, and some of them feature exercises with coding, Shaffer said.
“You think about artificial intelligence, and the kids know about it a little bit, but different careers and different opportunities that they might have — that exposure is really important,” he said.
The lab, Learning Undefeated CEO Brian Gaines said, is a 53-foot, double-expandable tractor trailer. It’s 1,000 square feet in total inside, and features lab equipment, tables and large screens spread out on the sides.
Gaines described the interior as what could be expected if a “science lab meets an Apple Store.”
“It’s all about getting students and communities interested in careers in STEM or careers in high paying, living wage, current jobs that they can get, and introducing students to those careers at an early age,” Gaines said.
Using the mobile lab, groups can do biology, chemistry or engineering activities, he said, with the goal of exposing them to the intricacies of jobs in science, technology, engineering and math.
But for middle schoolers, Gaines said, the focus could be more on what courses they can take to get them closer to a career goal.
“We really focus on those careers or on those skill sets that the employers are looking for,” Gaines said. “So it might be around problem solving, teamwork, building confidence in what you’re doing, being a good communicator, working as a team.”
The mobile lab is scheduled to stop at Sterling Middle School and one additional Loudoun County campus later this school year.
