AI Discoveries | CodeAI

A flexible middle school course that puts AI fluency at the center, so that every student leaves knowing not just how to use AI, but how to think about it, too.
Duration: Semester, School Year, Quarter
Devices: Chromebook, Computer
Topics: Programming, Data, Artificial Intelligence, Web Development, Physical Computing, App Design, Games and Animations, AI Literacy
Tools: AI Chat Lab, Web Lab, Game Lab, App Lab, Sketch Lab
Professional Learning: Facilitator-led Workshops, Self-paced Modules
If you've taught CS Discoveries, you'll feel at home here. AI Discoveries keeps everything that made CSD work (the flexibility, the creative projects, and the accessibility for teachers without a CS background) and rebuilds it around a simple idea: AI fluency can't be an add-on. It has to be the foundation.
Every student who completes this course leaves knowing how AI systems work, where they can fail, and why the choices behind them matter. They also leave having built something — websites, games, apps, and programs — that’s genuinely theirs.
Thinking Critically About AI — a brand-new Unit 1
Before students open a code editor or design their first project, they investigate real AI systems: how they're trained, where bias and misinformation creep in, and how to evaluate AI outputs with care. It's the unit middle schoolers have needed, and one they'll actually want to be in.
AI and Machine Learning moves to Unit 2
So AI concepts anchor the rest of the year instead of arriving late.
The Web Development unit is updated with a new, AI-assisted version of Web Lab that gives students a more powerful building experience while keeping them in the driver's seat on the code that matters most.
AI Tutor for students
In programming units, students have access to an AI-powered Tutor that gives real-time, personalized support as they code, helping them work through challenges independently without giving away the answer.
AI Teaching Assistant for teachers
An embedded TA provides real-time support for lesson planning, differentiation, and pacing, so you're never facing a room of stuck students alone.
Before students open a code editor or design their first project, they investigate real AI systems: how they're trained, where bias and misinformation creep in, and how to evaluate AI outputs with care. It's the unit middle schoolers have needed, and one they'll actually want to be in.
So AI concepts anchor the rest of the year instead of arriving late.
The Web Development unit is updated with a new, AI-assisted version of Web Lab that gives students a more powerful building experience while keeping them in the driver's seat on the code that matters most.
In programming units, students have access to an AI-powered Tutor that gives real-time, personalized support as they code, helping them work through challenges independently without giving away the answer.
An embedded TA provides real-time support for lesson planning, differentiation, and pacing, so you're never facing a room of stuck students alone.
AI Discoveries is designed to flex. Whether you have a quarter, a semester, or a full year, there's an implementation that works for your classroom.
Full Year (36 weeks)
The complete course: all three domains, a capstone project, and the full arc from AI literacy to creation.
A broader foundation plus sustained depth in one domain. A complete, meaningful experience in half a year.
Start with Thinking Critically About AI, build a shared CS and AI foundation, and go deep in one area — web development, programming, or data.
Many units can also be taught on their own, independently of the others!
Thinking Critically About AI
AI literacy, algorithmic bias, misinformation, responsible AI use, digital ethics
AI and Machine Learning
How ML works, training data, classification models, bias in AI systems
HTML, CSS, Web Lab, internet fundamentals, accessibility, digital citizenship
Programming with Music Lab
Sequencing, loops, functions, event-driven programming, computational thinking
Interactive Animations and Games
Variables, conditionals, events, game design, iterative development
Human-centered design, user research, wireframing, prototyping, feedback
Data collection and analysis, privacy, algorithmic bias, ethical data use
Creating Apps with Devices