Stemettes
As part of the Mathematics department’s recent collaboration with the Lancaster University School of Mathematics (Lusom), we were visited by Ms McConville, who presented a session to a group of Year 9 pupils. The focus of the lesson was “artificial intelligence” which has become something of a hot topic in the news. The session was produced by the “Stemette” programme, which is a pioneering social enterprise that encourages young women aged 15 to 25 to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
During the lesson, the students received an introduction into the mind-boggling possibilities and potential risks of this fast-developing field. They were given some insight into how it has already changed the world we live in, as well as what A.I might be used for in the future. There was an interview with Marta, a German biochemist who decided to leave the lab work and help to develop A.I in this country instead.
The students also had plenty of opportunities to try out some current examples of A.I – some of these you may even have come across already yourselves. I have provided links to some of the A.I programmes that were looked at. Please feel free to investigate these for yourselves.
Since the session, the students have had further opportunities to look at the some of the A.I programmes and a special shout out to Grace B who has completed all the tasks on the Virtual Tools Game.
The students involved and myself, would like to thank Lusom and the Stemettes for their continued efforts in developing Stem subjects in schools. Further thanks to Lusom for their outreach programme and the links we have developed with them to promote further study of Mathematics.
The Akinator
The Virtual Tools Game
https://sites.google.com/view/virtualtoolsgame?pli=1
Mr S Cheal
Assistant Head of Mathematics
