GRADE 6

Analyzing Political Cartoons About AI

We’re exploring the pros and cons of machine learning and generative artificial intelligence. To start thinking about the social and civic dimensions of AI, we reflected on what we know and what we want to know with the help of political cartoons about AI.

Training a Machine Learning Model

We practiced training an AI model using Google's Teachable Machine. (Note: The data and models weren’t uploaded for sharing or training actual models.) The site allows users to teach a computer to recognize images, sounds, & poses.

Potential Uses of AI in Science and Medicine

We used Google AI Quest to learn about potential uses of AI in science and medicine. We had to identify data and clean data that would be used to train an example AI model.

Stop Motion Animation with Paper

We used paper to create characters and scenes for our third exploration with stop motion animation.

Stop Motion Animation with Whiteboards

We continued our exploration of stop motion animation using whiteboards. We mostly used a text, dots, lines, and stick figures to get the hang of making small changes to our animations.

Stop Motion Animation with LEGOs

We’re learning about cinematography and filmmaking this year. We’re starting the year by creating stop motion movies. Most of us are using LEGOs. We watched a couple of LEGO stop motion clips created by other students. To get started, we began thinking about the characters and settings we'd like to use. We started searching for characters and putting together some initial sets.

We discussed how some shots can be used to establish a setting and mood. We also discussed how shots can be zoomed in, out, medium, etc.

Some of our story ideas, sets, and characters changed throughout the pre-production (planning, making sets, storyboarding, casting characters), production (photographing, filming), and post-production (editing) processes. This happens all the time in filmmaking.

Engineering Week / Black History Month Guest Speakers, Field Trips, Reading

Our junior chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), in partnership with our school's Civil Engineering Club, organized learning opportunities for International Engineering Week 2026 and Black History Month.

Check out the full event summary, including a visit by civil engineers and a tower building competition.

Digital Citizenship Videos

On virtual learning days due to snow, we watched videos about being good digital citizens and discussed the videos with someone in our family.

Coding Loops with Sphero Indi

We did some coding with Sphero Indi and color cards to create an algorithm in which the robot doesn't stop. This repeated pattern is a loop.

Genius Hour

We kicked off Genius Hour. Students have opportunities throughout the year to design and complete projects of their choosing. Schools across the world implement Genius Hour programs to support students in pursuing their own interests and explore their passions. The Wildcat Workshop, with its materials and emphasis on civic and creative uses of digital technologies, is a perfect space for this kind of activity. 

Staying Safe and Kind on the Internet

We learned about digital citizenship with Interland, by discussing digital citizenship scenarios, and from a guest speaker from the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General.

WHYY Media Lab Field Trip 

Some members of our WHYY Media Lab program also visit NBC10 in the Comcast Technology Center.