Magic School AI allows teachers to create a Science unit plan, so I wanted to try it out this weekend. I decided on Magnets because it’s a topic of interest that overlaps with my parenting life. My son likes to hang his masterpieces on the fridge with magnets, so he’s familiar with these beautiful objects.

First, I pasted all the lesson objectives related to Magnets and asked for a 25-day unit plan.

It was able to deliver what it promised. I quite like how it approaches the learning of magnets from the lens of various subjects, such as art and nature. For someone who has been confined to making my students internalise the examinable content regarding magnets, I thought equipping myself with different lens would enable me to sprinkle nuggets of information that would spice up learning for my son.

I particularly liked the Culminating activities section. Organising a science fair and writing a magnet-themed story book may seem like common-sensical ideas, but trust me, when you are caught up in the daily grind of teaching, you don’t have the bandwidth to brainstorm beyond the run-of-the-mill assessments.

What I didn’t like about it is that it assumes that students are able to grasp the concepts in one day. Some foreign concepts such as the electrical method and the stroking method are unlikely to be understood by average progress students within one day, so I think a more thoughtful unit plan will incorporate some form of spiral progression in regard to instruction. Well, I suppose Magic School AI will improve the quality of its outputs in due time.