MorphoBank has received supplemental funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation to develop educational resources to improve AI literacy among middle and high school students using real scientific research data and records deposited in MorphoBank.
Leveraging AI to ease researcher workflows
The expanded funding comes as an extension of our existing NSF Geoinformatics award (NSF EAR-2148768) and builds on recent major improvements to MorphoBank. Over the past four years those improvements included incorporation of AI into the matrix upload process to help researchers deposit morphological data with greater completeness and accuracy. Developing and testing these tools has given us firsthand experience with both the potential of AI in aiding research and related cataloging efforts, and the importance of careful human review and verification.
Translating MorphoBank’s AI learnings into lessons
Now, the MorphoBank team will use that experience, together with MorphoBank data, to develop and pilot a classroom-ready AI literacy curriculum for middle and high school students consisting of four lessons for two grade bands, grades 6-9 and 10-12. The lessons will help students learn how to evaluate AI-generated information, verify claims against primary sources, and think critically about how data quality, bias, attribution, and transparency affect responsible AI use.
The goal: introducing students to AI as a scientific tool, and giving them a critical foundation to future study and work in a scientific and technology industry where AI plays a crucial role.
The curriculum will address four connected themes:
- Demystifying AI
- Verification and critical thinking
- Ethics, bias, and responsibility
- Applied AI with MorphoBank
Rather than focusing only on how to use AI tools, the curriculum will emphasize how students can evaluate the information those tools produce. MorphoBank allows students to compare AI-generated claims directly with scientific data deposited by the researchers who contributed those records, helping them see when AI agrees with the evidence and when human expertise and verification are still essential.
A two-stage development process
The first phase of the project will focus on working with teachers, connecting the lessons to relevant science and computer science standards, designing the curriculum, and preparing selected MorphoBank data for classroom use. The materials will then be implemented in participating classrooms, reviewed based on teacher and student feedback, revised, and prepared for public release.
Built-in flexibility
A major focus of the project will be making the materials practical for teachers to use across a range of classroom settings. Schools vary considerably in their access to computers, reliable internet, and approved generative AI platforms. For that reason, the lessons will be designed with multiple ways to participate. Depending on the classroom, activities may involve students using approved AI tools, teachers facilitating AI use with the class, or students working with pre-generated AI outputs. This will allow students to practice verification and critical thinking even when direct access to generative AI is limited or unavailable.
Guided by teachers
The curriculum development relies on input from middle and high school educators to help ensure that the materials are useful, practical, and appropriate for real classroom settings. Teachers will help shape the lessons during development and provide feedback as the materials are tested in classrooms. Their perspective will be especially important as we consider differences in grade level, course structure, available technology, and the realities of teaching AI across a wide range of school environments. The goal is to create resources that are scientifically grounded, flexible, and easy for educators to adapt and use.
An important measure of success will be whether the resources are practical and useful in real classroom settings. Teacher feedback and classroom implementation experience will help identify what works well, what needs to change, and how the materials can be improved before public release.
The final resources will be made openly available through MorphoBank and partner organizations so that educators beyond the initial classrooms can adapt and reuse them.
What comes next
Over the coming months, we will be working with teachers and education partners to refine the lesson concepts, better understand classroom needs, and begin developing the instructional materials. We also expect to share opportunities for educators to review or test materials as the project develops.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into science, education, and the workforce, students will need more than experience using AI tools. They will need to understand how data influence AI outputs, how to evaluate those outputs against evidence, and when human judgment is essential.
By bringing MorphoBank data and scientific workflows into the classroom, this project will help students build those skills through science: learning not simply how to use AI, but how to question its outputs, test them against evidence, and make informed decisions about when they can be trusted.
