Lesson 1 kit: Zibs and Zobs
For GR4AI lesson 1, “How AI learns” · groups of 4 to 5 · 22 minutes of the 45
Before the lesson (print: 10 minutes, cut: about 30)
- Print pages 2 to 5 once per group (page 5 has the blank cards for round 3) (for 24 kids: 6 kits). Print page 6 (exit tickets) once for every 8 kids. Pages 1 and 7 are for you. Give each group a pencil.
- Cut out the cards. Put set A (12 cards), set B (12 cards) and the 6 test cards in three separate envelopes or paper clips. Mark them A, B, T.
- No printer? Draw 6 Zibs and 6 Zobs on the board and run rounds 1 and 2 with the whole class.
Run of the activity
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2 min | Say: “Zibs and Zobs are made up animals. Each group gets cards. Each card says what it is. Find out what makes a Zib and what makes a Zob. I will not tell you the rule.” Give out the roles and envelope A. |
| 5 min | Round 1. Look at set A for 2 minutes. Decide together how to tell Zibs from Zobs. Then the Tester holds up test card 1 to 6, one at a time. The Model team calls Zib or Zob. The Recorder ticks on the score sheet. Check against the key below. |
| 5 min | Round 2. Swap envelope A for envelope B. Same test cards, same steps. Score again. |
| 6 min | Round 3, fix it. Ask: “The AI got some wrong. What new cards would stop that?” Each group draws 4 new cards on the blank cards (page 5), adds them to set B, and runs the six test cards again. Score in the third row. |
| 4 min | Compare. Which round scored best? What did the new cards change? Ask: “What was different about the sets of training cards?” |
Answer key
The rule: Zibs have pointy ears. Zobs have round ears. Spots and tails are there on purpose to distract.
| Test card | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correct answer | Zib | Zob | Zib | Zob | Zib | Zob |
| Tricky? | yes | yes | yes | |||
| If a group follows spots | Zib | Zob | Zob | Zib | Zob | Zob |
Set A is fair: spots and tails are mixed in both kinds, so ears are the only reliable clue. Set B is one sided: every Zib has spots and no Zob has spots, so spots look like a clue too. A group that follows the spots gets 3 of 6 in round 2 (cards 3, 4 and 5 go wrong).
Round 3: good new cards are a Zob with spots and a Zib without spots. More spotted Zibs do not help. The test cards are the same, so scores may rise because kids remember them. What matters is which pattern they now use.
Set A: fair training cards (12)
Cut along the dashed lines. Keep these in envelope A.
✂ Cut along the dashed lines
Set B: one sided training cards (12)
Cut along the dashed lines. Keep these in envelope B.
✂ Cut along the dashed lines
Test cards (6) and score sheet
No labels on these. Keep them in envelope T. The Tester holds up one card at a time.
Score sheet
| Test card | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 (set A) | __ / 6 | ||||||
| Round 2 (set B) | __ / 6 | ||||||
| Round 3 (set B + new cards) | __ / 6 |
Tick the box if the group was right.
Roles and sentence starters
Tester
Holds up the test cards one at a time. Does not say the answer.
Model team (2 or 3)
Looks at the training cards, decides the pattern, calls Zib or Zob.
Recorder
Ticks the score sheet. Says the score out loud at the end.
Timekeeper
Watches the clock. Tells the group when 2 minutes are up.
Talk starters
- I think the AI got it wrong because …
- I agree with … because …
- I see it differently because …
- To make it fair, we should add …
Blank cards for round 3 (6)
Draw a Zib or a Zob on each. Write the name under it.
Exit tickets (8 per sheet)
Cut out. Each child picks one way to answer: draw, tick a face, or write.
Teacher page: what to say and what to watch
- Key sentence: “An AI is a computer program. It does not understand things. It finds patterns in the examples people give it.”
- After round 2: “The AI did not misbehave. It found a pattern in the examples we gave it, just not the one we meant.”
- Some groups will still use ears in round 2 and score 6 of 6. That is fine. Ask: “How could you be sure it was the ears and not the spots?”
- If a group finds the rule in 10 seconds: ask them to prove it with three cards. If nobody finds it: ask what is the same about all the Zibs.
- If one child shouts the rule to the class: thank them, and ask the group to check it on the cards.
- Watch for: “the AI wanted…”, “the AI knows…”. Gently say: “The program found…”. And “more cards always fix it”: only if they are varied.
- If a child asks “Is it alive?”: “No. It is a program. People build it and choose the examples.”
Observation sheet (for you)
| I can … | Not yet | Almost | Yes |
|---|---|---|---|
| say what a label is | |||
| explain why set B gave more wrong answers | |||
| say who chooses the examples an AI learns from |
First version of this kit from GR4AI, a free non profit project, not yet tried in a classroom. Please tell us what worked and what did not: gr4ai.org, About, Contact.