AIQ
AIQ
Part of the Your AI Rules lesson guide. Teaching a different grade? 🔧 Builder (8–10) · 💻 Hacker (11–14) · ⚡ Architect (15–18)
Gather the class somewhere everyone can see you — carpet time works well for this one, since there's no screen needed for the opening. Hold up your hands like you're announcing something big, the way you would before revealing a surprise.
Say, in an excited voice, close to the lesson's own hook line: "Today, YOU get to make the rules! What rules would YOU make for AI? Should it be fair? Honest? Safe? Let's create YOUR AI rules!"
Pause and ask: "Has anyone here made up a rule before? Maybe a rule for a game you invented, or a rule for your little brother or sister, or a rule for your pet?" Take two or three quick answers — you're not grading these, just warming up the idea that rules are things people make, not just things that already exist. A student might say "no cutting in line," "everyone gets a turn," or "no touching my toys without asking." Respond with something like "That's exactly the kind of thinking we're doing today, except our rules are for AI!"
Explain in one simple sentence what AI is, in case some students need the reminder: "AI is a computer program that can look at pictures, understand words, or make suggestions — like the voice assistant on a phone that answers when you ask it a question, or a game that guesses what show you want to watch next." If your class did the earlier World 5 lessons, jog their memory with one line each: "Remember when we talked about AI sometimes being unfair? And AI sometimes tricking people with fake videos? Today we get to be the ones who say 'no more of that — here are the rules!'"
Keep this opening under two to three minutes. At this age, momentum matters more than a thorough setup — the app itself will re-introduce every idea, so your job here is just to get them curious and a little bit proud that they are the rule-makers today, not just rule-followers.
Open the lesson in AIQ (World 5, Explorer mode) as a class on a shared screen, or let pairs work through it together on their own devices if you have enough — pairing a stronger reader with a student who needs more support works well here, since there is real text to read in each scene. The lesson walks through three "scenes" — treat each one as its own mini-conversation, pausing the app after each before moving to the next, rather than letting students click through all three back to back.
Scene 1 — the big ideas. The app introduces four ideas: Fairness, Transparency, Safety, and Human Control — shown to this age group simply as being fair to everyone, telling the truth, being safe, and having a person in charge. Read each one aloud with the class and translate it into a question a 6-year-old already understands, using a real object or scenario if you can (a ball, a toy robot, a picture of a car):
Scene 2 — your choices matter. Explain simply: "Every time you or your family picks an app, or tells a grown-up 'this doesn't seem fair,' you're helping decide what AI is allowed to do — just like voting for what game to play at recess." Ask: "Can you think of a time you told a grown-up something on a screen seemed wrong, confusing, or unfair?" Some students may recall a game or app moment where something felt off — affirm any answer that shows they noticed something and said so, even something small like "the game kept losing my saved level."
Scene 3 — design your rules. Now bring it together: as a class, write down (on chart paper, or just verbally, going student by student) four rules using the app's own examples as a starting point: Rule 1: Be Fair. Rule 2: Be Honest. Rule 3: Keep Secrets Safe. Rule 4: Have a Human in Charge. For each rule, ask one student to explain it back in their own words — accept any phrasing that captures the idea, even if it's not exact. Younger or less confident classes can draw a picture of "their" AI rule instead of writing a sentence — for example, a robot wearing a name tag that says "I AM A ROBOT" for the honesty rule, or a picture of a locked treasure chest for the "keep secrets safe" rule.
If some students want to add more than four rules of their own, encourage it — the app's four are meant as a floor to build from, not a ceiling. A student might suggest "AI should say sorry if it's wrong" or "AI shouldn't be scary" — welcome these even if they're not exactly how an adult would phrase it, since the underlying instinct behind them (accountability, safety) is exactly right.
If time allows, do a quick "thumbs up / thumbs down" check after Scene 3: describe a short scenario (e.g., "an AI app that never tells you it's an AI") and have students show thumbs up if it follows the rules, thumbs down if it breaks one. This gives you a fast, informal read on whether the four rules actually stuck before you move to discussion.
A few more scenarios you can use for the thumbs up / thumbs down check, in case you want extra rounds: "A robot toy that lets EVERY kid play, no matter how they talk or what they look like" (thumbs up — fair); "A talking speaker that says 'Hi, I'm your new best friend!' and never mentions it's a computer" (thumbs down — not honest); "A toy car company that tests their self-driving toy one hundred times in a safe parking lot before selling it" (thumbs up — safe); "A robot that keeps doing something scary even after a grown-up says stop" (thumbs down — no human control). Mix these in slowly, one at a time, and let students explain their thumb before moving to the next one.
For this age group, keep each question short and give plenty of think-time — a slow raise of hands is normal, and it's fine to rephrase a question once if nobody responds right away. If a student gives an answer that's off-topic but shows they're engaged (like "my robot at home listens to me!"), gently redirect rather than dismiss: "That's cool — do you think your robot should tell people it's a robot?" keeps them in the conversation instead of shutting them down.
Close with: "You did it — you made YOUR OWN rules for AI, just like the grown-ups who build real AI have to do! Being fair, being honest, being safe, and always keeping a human in charge — those are things you can ask for anytime you use a computer or an app, for the rest of your life."
Extension activity (stretches the lesson to a full period): Have each student draw a "Rule Poster" — a single AI rule illustrated as a poster, in their own words and their own drawing style. Examples to suggest if students get stuck: a fair robot sharing toys equally among many kids, a robot wearing a name tag that says "I AM A ROBOT," a robot being carefully tested by scientists before it's allowed outside, or a big red "stop" button with a grown-up's hand on it. Post the finished posters around the room as a class "AI Rules Wall" that stays up for the rest of the term.
A second option, if you have more time: Turn the four rules into a short call-and-response chant the class can say together — you call out "What's Rule One?" and the class answers "Be fair!," and so on through all four. Repeating the rules out loud as a group, in a fun rhythm, helps this age group retain the ideas far better than reading them silently once.