When Artificial Intelligence Meets Very Real Sharks
Photo by Erika Nortemann/Florida Museum
Sharks, on their own, are fascinating enough for Florida students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Add artificial intelligence to the study of these creatures and their fossilized teeth, and you get Shark AI – a program that is blending paleontology and cutting-edge technology in STEM curriculums statewide.
Funded by a $1.3-million grant from the National Science Foundation, Shark AI (also known as AI Learning in K-12 with Fossil Sharks) is a collaboration between the University of Florida’s Thompson Earth Systems Institute, UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF’s College of Education, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
“Sharks are the hook to get students interested and, with their simple morphology, they are easy specimens to identify using AI,” said Bruce MacFadden, Ph.D., the former director of the Thompson Earth Systems Institute and a principal investigator on the project.
The project builds on students’ natural curiosity about sharks while introducing them to customizable, standards-based lessons in computer science, engineering, and technology through tools like interactive machine learning models.
To learn how to implement the Shark AI curriculum, 55 educators throughout Florida have participated in Scientist in Every Florida School professional development workshops on UF’s Gainesville campus for the past three years.
Florida, which is a hotspot for fossilized shark teeth, serves as an ideal backdrop for the Shark AI program.
Read More at Florida Museum: Thompson Earth Systems Institute
