My Journey with “A Fresh Squeeze on Data”

by Annabel Hasty

Third-grader Sarah exclaimed, “I wonder what else I can do with data!” as I finished reading the book A Fresh Squeeze on Data to my class. Many of her classmates shared her enthusiasm, as they cheered throughout the story for the main character Clara and the lemonade crew. I’ve used this book as an introduction to the concepts of data and data bias with my third, fourth, and fifth-grade students at Quest Academy, an independent gifted school in the suburbs of Chicago. Every time I finish the book, I have students who ask if there’s another book in the series and ask for more details about the adventures of Clara and her friends.

I feel fortunate to have collaborated on this book with a talented team of writers at ReadyAI and researchers in data science. The story features Clara, a curious young girl who wants to open a lemonade stand to raise money for a local hospital. By consulting with her mother, who is a data scientist, and her neighbor, who provides helpful suggestions about collecting data, Clara and her friends from the Lemonade Crew create a successful lemonade stand. In the process, the children learn a great deal about data bias and discover important lessons about analyzing data that will help them in the real world.

As the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at my school, I am always looking for resources that fit the needs of my energetic and inquisitive young students. The engaging lesson plans that accompany the book allow my students to try out Teachable Machine, an online program, as well as create a decision tree and examine the results for data bias. Ashani, a fourth-grade student, was excited to try Teachable Machine for the first time. After training the machine with many pictures of dogs and cats, she remarked, “I can’t believe we trained it to tell a dog from a cat!” These meaningful experiences with machine learning and data have had a big impact on my young students who want to know all they can about the world around them.

I recently completed a research project with a team of AI researchers that explored the gender differences in self-efficacy and career interests in AI and data science among elementary students. This qualitative study focused on the following research questions:

Does the participation in the intervention lesson impact students’

• overall interest in AI and data science and
• preference in AI-related careers?

After the lesson, does gender differentiate students’

• overall interest in AI and data science and
• career interest in AI-related fields?

Through this research project, we analyzed the results of the 3rd-5th grade students at Quest Academy using A Fresh Squeeze on Data book and lesson plans. As the students worked in small groups, fourth-grade students Jack and Amanda discussed what data bias their decision tree might have. Jack commented, “I don’t think I see any data bias,” to which Amanda replied, “Well, wouldn’t we get better results with a bigger data set?” Utilizing A Fresh Squeeze on Data book and lesson plan in the classroom definitely had an impact on the students as they delved deeper into concepts of data and data bias.

The primary aims of the study were to delve into the effects of interactive AI learning programs in equipping elementary school students with basic AI and data knowledge and to identify the overall change in female students’ willingness to continue learning AI and data science in the future. A combination of methods were used in this project, including students surveys and teacher observations. Based on the data from the surveys, the program significantly improves students’ self-efficacy. However, there was not a significant change in career interests and no real differences based on gender. The teacher observations provided valuable information about effective methods for teaching data and data bias to third-fifth grade students.

The limitations of this study included a small sample size, the lack of AI instruction at most elementary schools, and the short time frame. In the future, we would hope to conduct this study on a much larger scale over an extended period with many more schools. This study suggests, both early interventions and longer term interventions are needed. A Fresh Squeeze on Data and the accompanying lesson plan allow teachers to engage in interactive lessons with their students to discover concepts of data bias, AI, and machine learning.

Annabel Hasty is a Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence teacher at Quest Academy, an independent gifted school located in the suburbs of Chicago. She has presented at TCEA on “Artificial Intelligence and Robots: The Best Tool and Techniques” as well as IDEACon on “Makerspace Meets Artificial Intelligence.” She is also a Continuing Education Instructor at the AI Incubator Hub at Harper College in Illinois.