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

by Angie Smibert (Author), Alexis Cornell (Illustrator)

What is artificial intelligence? How is artificial intelligence going to change our lives?

"Alexa, play my favorite song! Alexa, shut the garage door!" Imagine a world in which you simply call out a request while sitting in your living room and have a small computer comply. Suddenly, the driving beat of your favorite song fills the air while in the distance you hear the grind of the garage door coming down.

This scenario is no longer science fiction! Our world is becoming increasingly inhabited by machines that can talk to us, listen to us, perform as asked, and even solve problems with no direction from humans. A machine with artificial intelligence is one that can perceive its environment and change its computing and behavior to reflect that environment, while using tools at hand to solve problems or reach goals.

In Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids, one of four titles in the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 learn the early definitions of AI and discover how these definitions, and the tests that are applied to determine whether a machine has AI or not, have changed as machines have grown increasingly competent in unexpected ways. Through a combination of science activities and student-paced learning, readers discover the AI machines of today and their uses in various fields, such as entertainment, the military, and health care. 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.

What about the future? How will AI affect the way we understand and integrate with technology and with each other? How can AI improve our lives? Is there anything dangerous about AI? What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI? Essential questions such as these promote critical examination of issues from all sides, while primary sources and science-minded engineering activities, such as experimenting with the programs Sound Net and iNaturalist and making a model of a neural network, let readers have a blast learning about the age of thinking machines we're in right now.

In the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 explore the digital and tech landscapes of today and tomorrow through hands-on STEAM activities and compelling stories of how things work, who makes them work, and why. Titles in this set include Industrial Design: Why Smartphones Aren't Round and Other Mysteries with Science Activities for Kids; Big Data: Information in the Digital World with Science Activities for Kids; Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids; and Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids.

Nomad Press books integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

Front Jacket

• $40,000 marketing and publicity budget (for series)
• Exhibiting at national and regional conferences including:
• American Library Association (ALA: 60,000 members)
  National Science Teacher Association/STEM (NSTA: 60,000 members)
• American Association of School Librarians (AASL: 10,000 members)
• Public Library Association (PLA: 11,000 members)
• Texas Library Association (TLA: 7,000 members)
• National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS: 25,000 members)
• International Literacy Association (ILA: 60,000 members)
• Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE: 40,000 members)
• Advertising in the following publications:
• SLJ display ads (3-4 times for series)
• Booklist/Booklinks display ads (3-4 times)
• Booklist/Booklinks online ads
• Follett Library
• Ingram (Children's Advance 2 times)
• Baker & Taylor (Growing Minds)
• Publicity and promotion in conjunction with the author's speaking engagements at bookstores, libraries, schools, museums, events, and conferences
• Extensive social media outreach via Facebook (com/AngieSmibertAuthor/), Twitter (@amsmibert), Pinterest, Instagram (instagram.com/asmibert/), Goodreads, LinkedIn, YouTube, and the author's blog (angiesmibert.com)

Back Jacket

What is artificial intelligence? How is artificial intelligence going to change our lives?

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

kids ages 10 to 15 learn how machines develop into thinking, learning devices that can help humans perform tasks, make decisions, and work more efficiently. They can even help us have fun! Through a combination of hands-on science activities and student-paced learning, readers discover the AI machines of yesterday and today and learn about uses in various fields, such as entertainment, the military, and health care.

How can AI continue to improve our lives? Is there anything dangerous about AI? What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI? Essential questions, primary sources, and science-minded engineering activities let readers have a blast learning about the age of thinking machines we're in right now.

Try these hands-on science and engineering projects!

• Make a model of a neural net out of playdough and toothpicks.
• Take a Turing test.
• Design your own rescue robot.

Author Biography

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.