Grade & subject
Written for Grade 4 (adaptable across grades 3–5). Cross-curricular: math (line plots, modeling), ELA presentation, and computer science.
At a glance
Is this right for my class?
Time & prerequisites
One 60-minute session. No prior AI experience needed. Designed so any teacher or librarian can lead it after a short read-through.
Devices & internet
Optional - this is the offline-first edition. The core lesson runs with printed materials and traffic-light cards. A projector helps for the intro video and the optional Kahoot.
Learning goal
What students will learn
Essential question: How does AI help vehicles sense their surroundings and make decisions, and how could we make transportation smarter and safer?
By the end, students can
- Explain how AI helps vehicles sense their surroundings and make decisions.
- Describe a simple sense-decide-act loop.
- Collect and compare data to improve a transportation plan.
- Present an improvement using visuals and clear explanations.
- Discuss benefits and trade-offs of smart transportation.
Big idea
Sense, decide, act. Smart vehicles take in information, make a decision, and act - and better data and rules can make transportation safer and more efficient.
Before you teach
Prepare & materials
Required (works offline)
- Traffic-light cards for the interactive activities (screen-free).
- Printed teaching guide and the AI & Transportation reading.
- Notebook or paper for the pre- and post-assessment and reflection.
Prep time: about 15–20 minutes to print materials and cut the traffic-light cards.
Optional (needs devices)
- Projector + the transportation video and slide deck.
- A Kahoot pre-assessment (paper works too).
- Robot or device for the optional build, if available.
The 60-minute agenda
Teaching sequence
Six timed blocks that add up to one 60-minute class.
- Welcome, transportation video & pre-assessment (0–10 min) - Engage: surface what students already know.
- AI & transportation introduction (10–15 min) - how do vehicles sense and decide?
- Investigate (15–30 min) - explore how AI uses data on the move.
- Act (30–45 min) - students improve a "smart" transportation plan.
- Compare, improve & share (45–55 min) - test, refine, and present.
- Post-assessment & reflection (55–60 min) - what changed in your thinking?
Total: 60 minutes.
Want more? Pair this with the AI & Flight materials (included in the bundle) - Airplanes Everywhere, the Flight Path AI presentation, and flight vocabulary - for a second session on AI in aviation. A longer Challenge-Based Learning version is in the teaching guide.
Checking for understanding
Assessment
Along the way (formative)
- Pre-assessment to surface prior knowledge.
- Observation and discussion during Investigate and Act.
At the end
A post-assessment and reflection (in the teaching guide) captures what students learned and how their thinking changed.
Adapt it
Differentiate & extend
Support
- Use the traffic-light cards for non-writers to respond.
- Provide sentence stems for the share-out.
- Model the sense-decide-act loop with a class example.
Stretch
- Extend into the AI & Flight materials.
- Run the Challenge-Based Learning version as a multi-session build.
The bundle
What's included
Download everything at once, or grab the pieces you need. All files are PDFs.
- Teaching guide (2.0) - the offline-first lesson plan, standards, and agenda. Open ↗
- Teaching guide (1.0) - the earlier edition, for reference. Open ↗
- Teaching guide & story - the transportation guide with its story. Open ↗
- AI & Transportation reading - the core student reading. Open ↗
- Slide deck - the AI & Transportation presentation. Open ↗
- AI & Flight: Airplanes Everywhere - flight extension reading. Open ↗
- AI & Flight: Flight Path presentation - flight extension slides. Open ↗
- AI & Flight: Flight vocabulary - flight vocabulary sheet. Open ↗
Standards referenced
CCSS Math MP4 (model with mathematics) and 4.MD.B.4 (line plots), CCSS ELA-Literacy SL.4.4 (presenting) and RI.3-5.3, plus CSTA and ISTE connections. These are referenced in the lesson; confirm the exact alignment for your curriculum before formal planning.
© 2026 Morgan State University. Free to download and use in your classroom. Version 2026. Questions or want to adapt and share it more widely? k12ceamls@morgan.edu.