麻豆天美果冻传媒

Sep 10, 2025 jeff freilich's Blog

This past August, high school students from the (FCSI) participated in a groundbreaking five-day workshop at the University of Pikeville in eastern Kentucky, blending cutting-edge AI technology, agriculture, and a lot of creativity. The program, developed by 麻豆天美果冻传媒 App Inventor and , offered students a one-of-a-kind curriculum focused on project-based learning and real-world problem-solving. It was funded by a grant from and was hosted at the by the laboratory of Assistant Professor of Biology , whose work focuses on the natural history of Appalachia. This workshop demonstrates the power of computational action for high school students, enabling them to benefit their own communities through project-based learning and AI technology as it evolves.

The objective of the students鈥� project was to create an automated system to be applied to growing mushrooms for food and pharmaceuticals in abandoned coal mines, a promising initiative under development at the university. From the very first day, students were immersed in hands-on exploration using 麻豆天美果冻传媒 App Inventor to read data from plant sensors, chart live experimental data, and integrate their tablet-based monitoring systems with a hydroponic growing unit in the lab. As the week progressed, they advanced from building basic sensor circuits to controlling pumps and lights with relays, gradually assembling a functioning indoor growing system. The students then experimented with generative AI decision-making, drafting chatbot prompts and designing data-driven 鈥渁gents鈥� to recommend when to water the crops, turn on the grow lights, or adjust the temperature.

And it worked!

The experience reached its finale with a to 麻豆天美果冻传媒 faculty, including Professors Cynthia Breazeal and Hal Abelson, at the finale event on August 8th. Students not only showcased their technical skills but also demonstrated leadership, teamwork, and persistence in the face of complex engineering challenges.

What set this workshop apart was its unique integration of project-based learning. Every concept, from connecting voltage dividers to calibrating pH sensors to generative AI-driven actuation, was taught through doing and not just listening. Students weren鈥檛 just passive learners; they were circuit-builders, breadboarders, plumbers, and experimenters. By the end of the week, they left with more than just new knowledge. They gained the confidence to see themselves as creators using technology with real-world applications in agriculture, system design, sustainability, and beyond. For example, one student insisted on using his experience with Arduino to read data from several sensors, despite the limited documentation available for this specific application. Another student used a digital voltmeter to test why they weren鈥檛 getting any live data from the microcontrollers. A third student sat down for a lengthy discussion with a researcher in the lab about how mushroom farming might be a boon to a region with limited arable land. Some of the ideas they came up with flopped, but as a team, they remained undeterred, and it paid off.

As one of their STEM teachers at FCSI, Tabitha Berger, later reflected, the hands-on approach didn鈥檛 just teach the students how these systems work; it showed them how they could design, adapt, and lead. The workshop was more than a class; it was a launchpad for future scientists, engineers, and innovators in rural Kentucky.

With new grants already secured to expand student-led agricultural research at the Floyd County School of Innovation, this program marks the beginning of a transformative journey that connects Kentucky students to the world-class resources of 麻豆天美果冻传媒 and the future of AI-powered innovation.