AI and Writing about Bioethics

Update:  Here is the Prezi generated by AI.  Thankfully, it’s very basic.  I wouldn’t have a problem if kids used an AI assistant to help block out their ideas.  When I created the template, I have about 12 specific terms, such as pre-implantation genetic testing.  Prezi produced a basic presentation template.  Here is a slide deck with some topics we explore under the guise of Bioethics and Designer Babies.

My Composition class is working on a Bioethics project.  I want them to use Canva or Prezi for the project to learn new tools.  Most the the Prezi and Canva templates are AI.  Perfect!  I want the kids to experiment with AI, too.  One former student said she used Ask Writer for an essay.  She wrote her essay first.  Then she submitted a detailed outline to Ask Writer to see what it generated.  The resulting essay wasn’t bad.

The Composition class is working on the Designer Baby Project.  The kids can examine any bioethics issue.  Our Co-op is Roman Catholic.  We Catholics have loads of materials: USCCB Bioethics Materials, Dignitas Personae (Dignity of a Person),  and Donum Vitae (Respect for Human Life).  Additionally, Begotten Not Made examines reproductive technology.  One student is researching Jérôme LeJeune, who first linked Trisomy 21 chromosomes to Down Syndrome.  Another is using Calvin and Hobbes to examine cloning.  The comic writer raises issues about which clone is real?  What is the morality of cloning?  Another student wants to examine the foundational issue, the dignity of every person.  Another student studies Philosophy and is researching exposure of infants, a form of euthanasia, in Ancient Greece and Rome.  I asked the kids to pick topics that resonated with them.  It produces better writing.once I generate a Prezi, I’ll link it here.

Happy New Year! Color Changing Experiments!

 Happy New Year!  Let’s start with some science experiments!  I like color change labs and demos.  Science Bob’s Rapid Color Changing Chemistry! uses iodine, Vitamine C tablets, liquid starch, and hydrogen peroxide, household chemicals you may have on hand.  (This Unknown Lab uses loads of household chemicals, such as iodine, to test for unknowns.  Do the Elephant’s Toothpaste lab to use up the hydrogen peroxide.). Are your kiddos still small?  Try Walking Rainbow with Mouse Paint or Rainbow Fish.  STREAM adds reading and art to science experiments.  Try making Marbled Cards or the Red Cabbage Acid-Base labs.  I buy powdered red cabbage for pH labs; but it’s pricey.  Try blending the red cabbage leaves in water or rubbing alcohol.  The pigment should be used immediately.  

Let the older kids plan an afternoon of color changing science for their younger siblings.  Borrow several rainbow-themed books from the library to read aloud.  The kids might want to set up a skit to introduce the experiments!  Now you are doing STEM Theatre.  Cap the afternoon by painting together with homemade watercolor paint. Look at you doing STREAM education!