Day 1: Biometrics

Fingerprint Science and Identity
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 1 of the Chabot STEM Workshop! Today you will become a fingerprint analyst.

Your fingerprints are unlike anyone else's on the planet - not even identical twins share the same prints. From the moment you were born, your unique ridge patterns have been the most reliable way to identify you.

Today's Case Briefing: You step into the role of a fingerprint examiner trainee. Your mission: learn the three major fingerprint pattern types (Loop, Whorl, Arch) and train a real machine learning model in Teachable Machine to spot them. By Day 4 you'll use these skills on the Week 1 forensics case.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Ink pads, White cardstock, Magnifying glasses, Wet wipes, Classification chart, Tablets for the app

Use the Fingerprint Ridge Classifier to study the three pattern types. Explore the Reference Guide to learn identifying features, then test yourself in Quiz Mode.

Interactive App: Launch Fingerprint Ridge Classifier. Use the Launch button below to open the app inline.
1Ink your fingertip: Press firmly onto the ink pad and roll from side to side.
2Transfer to card: Press your inked finger onto the white card, rolling smoothly from one side to the other.
3Examine your print: Use a magnifying glass to examine your print. Classify it as a Loop, Whorl, or Arch.
4Repeat and record: Repeat for all ten fingers and record your results on the classification chart.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
What changed in AI this year: Apple's iPhone 17 (2025) added on-device fingerprint AI that can detect deepfaked prints with 99.2% accuracy. Behind the scenes, it's the same kind of pattern-matching you just learned by hand. The DIFFERENCE? The phone does it 1,000 times a second.

Train Your Own Fingerprint Classifier with Teachable Machine

Apple's iPhone uses pattern-matching AI to identify your fingerprint. Today you build a smaller version of the same kind of model with Teachable Machine, a free Google tool that trains real machine learning models in your browser. No coding, no login. You will see exactly how AI learns from examples.
Watch these 3 short videos first. They walk you through Teachable Machine so you can spend lab time training the model, not figuring out the buttons.
1Open teachablemachine.withgoogle.com. Click 'Get Started' then 'Image Project' then 'Standard image model.' Create 3 classes named Loop, Whorl, Arch.
2Hold each of your inked prints up to your laptop's webcam. For each class, click 'Hold to Record' for 10 seconds. The model learns from the examples you show it.
3Click 'Train Model.' Wait 30 seconds. Now hold up a NEW inked print the model didn't see during training. Watch the prediction and the confidence percentage. Did it get it right?
4BREAK YOUR MODEL: hold up your hand, a piece of paper, or a sticker. The model will still confidently classify it as Loop, Whorl, or Arch, because it only knows what you showed it. That is WHY training data quality matters in real AI.
5Optional: click 'Export Model' to save it. You just trained a real ML classifier in 10 minutes. The same kind of math runs on every phone's fingerprint sensor, just trained on millions of examples instead of a handful.
What you just did: trained a real machine learning model. The CHOICES you made (which images, how many, what variety) ARE the AI literacy skill. Bad examples = bad model. Real ML engineers do this for a living, just at much bigger scale.
Media Literacy Field Card: when a viral video shows 'a fingerprint match,' check who posted it. Free tool you can use TODAY: commonsensemedia.org/news-and-media-literacy. They have age-appropriate (grade 6-8) videos on spotting fake claims. Teachers love it because it's free.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Crime Scene Investigator and Forensic Examiner

Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic Examiners work at local police departments and county crime labs. Salary range is about $50k to $85k. The same fingerprint classification skills you used today scale up to real evidence the day they start the job.
Save your work: Save your fingerprint classification cards - you will use them in the Week 1 Case Finale on Day 4!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 2: Fluid Patterns

Blood Spatter Analysis and Physics
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 2! Today you will become a bloodstain pattern analyst.

When a drop of blood hits a surface, its shape tells a story. Forensic scientists use physics to calculate exactly where it came from.

Today's Case Briefing: You train as a bloodstain pattern analyst. Your mission: learn how the SHAPE of a blood drop tells you the ANGLE it hit a surface, then prove it by dropping simulated blood at known angles and measuring. By Day 4 you'll use this skill in your Week 1 case.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Washable red paint, Pipettes, Protractors, Rulers, Butcher paper, Smocks or old shirts, Calculators, Tablets for the app

Use the Blood Spatter Angle Calculator to understand how drop width and length determine impact angle. Try the Calculator tab first, then challenge yourself in Practice Mode.

Interactive App: Launch Spatter Angle Calculator. Use the Launch button below to open the app inline.
1Prepare workspace: Put on your smock and cover your workspace with butcher paper.

How to Run the Spatter Experiment

Watch these two demos first. They show the experimental setup and how to calculate the angle from the drop shape. You will reproduce both.
Setup tips: tape your butcher paper flat for the vertical test, then prop a clipboard against books to make tilted angles. Always drop from the SAME height (30 cm). Drop slowly. Wear your smock - simulated blood stains.
2Vertical drop test: Using the pipette, release a single drop of simulated blood from 30 cm directly above the paper. Measure the resulting circle.
3Angled drop test: Tilt a clean sheet of butcher paper to 45 degrees. Release a drop and measure the resulting ellipse (width and length).
4Calculate impact angle: Calculate the impact angle using the formula: angle = arcsin(width / length).
5Multiple angles: Repeat at different angles (30, 60, 75 degrees) and record all results.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: in February 2026, the LAPD started piloting an AI spatter analyzer that processes a crime scene photo in 4 seconds instead of 4 hours. It's good - but it ALSO got 6 cases wrong in its first month because of bad lighting. Speed is not accuracy.

Train Your Own Spatter AI with Teachable Machine

Refresher: same Teachable Machine you used on Day 1. If you need a reminder of the buttons, the 3 tutorial videos are in your Day 1 notebook. Setup is the same, just different classes.
1Open teachablemachine.withgoogle.com. Click 'Get Started' then 'Image Project' then 'Standard image model.'
2Make 3 classes: 'Steep (60-90 degrees),' 'Medium (30-60),' and 'Shallow (under 30).' For each class, hold up your printed spatter samples to the webcam and click 'Hold to record' for 10 seconds. The model learns from your examples.
3Click 'Train Model.' Wait 30 seconds. Now move new spatter samples in front of the camera. The model classifies them in real time. Watch the confidence percentages.
4BREAK YOUR MODEL: try to fool it. Hold up a piece of red paper. Show it your hand. What does it predict? The model has no idea what is or isn't a blood drop - it only knows what you showed it. That's WHY training data quality matters in real AI.
5Optional: click 'Export Model' to keep it. You just trained a real ML classifier in 10 minutes. With code, you could deploy this to a phone app.
What you just learned: machine learning is just teaching a computer with examples. Bad examples = bad model. The LAPD's AI gets it wrong when the lighting is different from its training data. Same principle, bigger stakes.
Media Literacy Field Card: spotting fake science claims is a skill. Try the AllSides Media Bias Chart (allsides.com/media-bias) - it shows news outlets from left to right so you can see who is leaning. Then try MediaWise (mediawise.org/teen-fact-checking) - teens fact-checking for teens. Free, written for your age.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Forensic Scientist and Bloodstain Pattern Analyst

Forensic Scientists and entry-level Bloodstain Pattern Analysts work at local crime labs and state DOJ. Salary range is about $50k to $90k. The drop-shape geometry you measured today is the skill they teach in their first weeks on the job.
Save your work: Save your spatter analysis worksheets - you will need your angle calculations for the final case!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 3: Trace Evidence

Microscopic Evidence Analysis
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 3! Today you will examine microscopic evidence like a forensic scientist.

Every contact leaves a trace. A single hair, a clothing fiber, or a grain of soil can place a suspect at a crime scene.

Today's Case Briefing: You train as a trace evidence examiner. Your mission: learn to compare hair and fiber samples under a microscope, the same way real lab examiners do every day. By Day 4 you'll use trace evidence as one piece of the Week 1 case.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Microscopes or Foldscopes, Prepared hair slides, Fiber sample slides, Unknown crime scene slides, Reference charts, Lab notebooks
1Set up microscope: Set up your microscope station and focus on the lowest magnification first.
2Examine hair samples: Examine the prepared hair slides. Note the color, texture, and medulla pattern.
3Examine fiber samples: Examine the fiber slides. Note the weave pattern, color, and thickness.
4Compare evidence: Compare your unknown "crime scene" samples to the known reference slides.
5Record conclusions: Record your observations and conclusions in your lab notebook.

Launch the Trace Evidence Microscope

Real microscopes magnify and isolate. The virtual microscope adds structured practice: identify the diagnostic feature on each specimen at low and high magnification, then apply your skill to real cases.
6Tap 'Microscope View.' Adjust magnification from 10x to 400x for each of 12 specimens (hair, fiber, glass, soil). At 10x specimens look generic - at 400x diagnostic features emerge. Identify each.
7Switch to 'Match the Suspect.' 4 named cases load (Carpet Fiber Murder, Pet Hair Killer, Glass Window Burglary, Dyed Hair Stalker). Examine 3 trace samples from the body, match to one of 4 suspect profiles.
8Finish with 'Locard's Exchange Principle.' Watch how every contact between two characters leaves a bidirectional trace transfer. Then take the 8-question quiz on hair morphology, fiber types, and the FBI's 96% hair-misuse statistic.
Watch what happens at 400x with the 'human hair (dyed)' specimen - you'll see damaged cuticle scales near the root. That's how a real trace examiner ages a dye job to within 4 weeks.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: in March 2026, Gemini 2.5 Vision was the first AI to correctly identify hair species (human vs dog vs cat) from a microscope image at 90%+ accuracy. The same AI can describe what it sees in plain English. Below, you'll test it.

Test Gemini's Vision on Your Trace Evidence

Gemini's multimodal mode (the camera icon) lets you upload a photo and ask questions about it. We'll see if it can identify what you saw under the microscope - and where it gets confused.
1Use the facilitator's phone or laptop. Open gemini.google.com. Click the photo icon. Take a picture of one of your trace evidence specimens (hair, fiber, glass) under the magnifying glass. Or use the photos provided.
2Ask: 'What kind of trace evidence is this? Describe what you see and explain how a forensic scientist would identify it.' Compare Gemini's answer to your microscope notes.
3Now FACT-CHECK GEMINI. Where was it right? Where was it wrong? Did it confidently say something false? (AI does this all the time - it's called a hallucination.) Write 3 specific examples in your notebook.
4Build a verification habit: never trust a single AI answer for anything that matters. Always (1) check what the AI says, (2) ask 'how do you know?', (3) verify with a second source. Real forensic labs require 2 human analysts AND any AI to agree before evidence goes to court.
Locard's Exchange Principle in 2026: every photo you upload to AI leaves a trace too. Most AI services log your image. Don't upload anything sensitive. Always check the privacy policy.
Media Literacy Field Card: when an AI makes a forensic claim, ask 'where did the data come from?' This is called LATERAL READING - leaving the page to verify. Snopes.com (free, no login) has been the gold standard since 1994. Practice now: search 'Snopes' + any viral claim you've seen this week.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Trace Evidence Examiner and Forensic Microscopy Tech

Trace Evidence Examiners and Forensic Microscopy Techs work at state crime labs, the FBI, and university forensic programs. Salary range is about $55k to $95k. Hair and fiber comparison under a microscope is exactly what you practiced today.
Save your work: Save your trace evidence observations - they are critical for the final case!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 4: Digital Truth

Deepfakes, Misinformation, and Digital Forensics
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 4! Today you will become a digital detective.

In a world where AI can generate realistic photos, videos, and text, how do you know what is real?

What Are Deepfakes?

Deepfakes are images, videos, or audio recordings created or changed with artificial intelligence so that a person appears to say or do something they did not actually say or do. Deepfakes can involve face swapping, voice cloning, lip syncing, AI-generated images, and AI-generated audio. Some synthetic media is creative, educational, or helpful. Some is used to trick people, impersonate someone, spread misinformation, damage reputations, or manipulate public opinion.
Today's Case Briefing: You train as a digital forensics analyst. Your mission: learn to spot AI-generated images and AI-cloned voices, build the verification habits real Trust and Safety teams use, and train a Teachable Machine deepfake spotter of your own. By Day 8 you'll know whether a 'breaking' video deserves to be trusted.

Fake Obama created using AI video tool (BBC News)

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials: Laptops or Chromebooks, Woven notebooks, pens. Everything else is in the app.

Step 1: Study the Digital Truth Checklist

Before you practice, expand the checklist below and read all 8 items. These are the questions a real digital forensics analyst asks themselves about every piece of media. You will use them as your guide for the rest of Part II.
▶Digital Truth Checklist (click to expand)

Step 2: Test AI Images

Open the Deepfake Detector below and tap Detect Fakes Practice. Work all 8 images. After each one, the app reveals what was real, what was AI, and tracks your accuracy plus your confidence calibration.

Step 3: Listen to Voice Clips

In the same app, tap Voice Analyzer. All 4 clips are AI-generated, modern voice cloning is too good now to spot AI by sound alone. Two clips are scam patterns (urgency + money asks), two are harmless casual voicemails. Listen and pick which is which by what the voice is actually saying. The app reveals the scam tells (specific dollar amounts, urgency, asking you to act fast).

Step 4: Train Your Own Deepfake Spotter

Open Teachable Machine (teachablemachine.withgoogle.com). Create an Image Project with 2 classes: Real Person and AI Generated. In the same Deepfake Detector below, tap Teachable Machine Image Bank. Click each thumbnail to enlarge it. Hold your laptop's webcam to the screen and click 'Hold to Record' on the matching class. Train, then test on a thumbnail you didn't use during training. Did your spotter get it right?

Step 5: Triage Headlines and Social Posts

In the Deepfake Detector, tap Headline Lab. Three tabs: Lateral Reading (3 articles), SIFT Headlines (5 headlines), Social Posts (3 platform-styled posts). Pick Real / Misleading / Fake / Need More Info, then click Reveal to see the verdict. Use the Digital Truth Checklist from Step 1 as your guide.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: Sora 2 (OpenAI's video model, 2025) and Veo 3 (Google's, 2026) can now generate 60-second videos that fool 80% of viewers in studies. The 2026 election cycle saw 4,200 verified deepfake videos in just the first 3 months. Detection is no longer optional, it's a survival skill.

Build a Misinformation Triage Gem

Now turn the Digital Truth Checklist into your own AI assistant. You will build a Gemini Gem that runs the checklist for you, then test it against the same social posts you triaged in Part II.

How to Build a Gemini Gem

Before you build your own Gem, watch this 3-minute tutorial. Gems are mini AI assistants you can build for any topic. The video walks you through every button so you can spend lab time on YOUR Gem, not on figuring out the interface.

How to use Gemini Gems - Tutorial for Beginners

1Open Gemini, sign in, go to Gems, and build a new Gem called 'Misinformation Triage.' Paste these instructions: 'When the user describes a viral image, video, or post, ask 5 questions: (1) Where did you see it? (2) Who posted it? (3) Does it make you feel angry, scared, or excited? (4) Can you find it in 2 mainstream sources? (5) Is the URL correct? Then give a Real / Probably Fake / Need More Info verdict.'
2Test your Gem on the 3 social posts in the Headline Lab. Open the Deepfake Detector below, tap Headline Lab, switch to Social Posts. Copy each post's text into your Gem. Compare your Gem's verdict to what Reveal shows. Where does the Gem nail it? Where does it miss?

Ethics Reflection

Ethics check-in (Woven notebook): when could AI-generated media be useful or creative? When could it become harmful or unethical? What responsibility do people have when they create or share AI-generated media? Write 2-3 sentences for each, focused on real situations you have actually seen online.
What you built: a personal deepfake and disinformation defense system. Most adults don't have one. By 2030, every person on the internet will need this. You're already ahead. Trust and Safety analyst is the entry-level Bay Area career that turns this skill into a paycheck ($70k to $130k).
Today's deepfake content is built from three professional sources that you can revisit anytime: PBS NewsHour / MediaWise (mediawise.org) for civic and misinformation literacy, Northwestern / MIT Detect Fakes (detectfakes.kellogg.northwestern.edu) for the hands-on detection structure, and AI for Education's 'Uncovering Deepfakes' classroom guide for the ethics framework. All three are free to access.
Media Literacy Field Card: free tools to bookmark today. (1) Snopes.com for quick myth-busting. (2) AP Fact Check (apnews.com/hub/ap-fact-check) for news-specific checks. (3) Google Fact Check Explorer (toolbox.google.com/factcheck) to search any claim. (4) Reverse image search (right-click any image, Search Image with Google). (5) Common Sense Media's News Literacy quiz (commonsensemedia.org).

Part IV: Week 1 Case Finale

Woven notebook: Part IV, Week 1 Case Finale. This is where 4 days of detective training come together. Write what you find at every station and the suspect you pick at the end.

The Pine Hills Case (Week 1 finale)

You've finished your detective training. Time for a real case. A break-in at a Pine Hills jewelry store in Oakland left 4 pieces of evidence. Your team has 30 minutes to work all 4 stations and pick the most likely suspect from a 3-person lineup.
Case file: Suspect A: Tomas, history of property crime, alibi for that night. Suspect B: Maya, recent ex-employee with grudge, no alibi. Suspect C: Jordan, no prior record but seen on a social-media video allegedly at the scene.

Station 1: Fingerprint (Day 1)

1Use the Fingerprint Ridge Classifier. The partial print recovered is a Loop with 7 ridge endings. Suspect A's known print is a Whorl. Suspect B's is a Loop. Suspect C's is an Arch. Match the print, write your finding.

Station 2: Blood Spatter (Day 2)

2The spatter on the wall measures width 6mm, length 12mm. Use the Spatter Angle Calculator. The angle tells you whether the suspect was standing tall (angle near 90), crouched (angle ~45), or low (angle ~30). Write the angle and what it suggests about height.

Station 3: Trace Evidence (Day 3)

3Use the Trace Evidence Microscope. The fiber recovered is a blue cotton thread. Suspect A wore a denim jacket (cotton, blue). Suspect B wore a black wool coat. Suspect C wore a polyester windbreaker. Which suspect's clothes match the trace?

Station 4: Digital Evidence (Day 4)

4The viral social-media video allegedly shows Suspect C at the scene. Open the Deepfake Detector and run the video through Detect Fakes Practice. Is it real footage, or could it be AI-generated and trying to frame Suspect C? Use the Digital Truth Checklist.

Render the Verdict

5Combine your 4 station findings. Which suspect is most likely guilty, A, B, or C? Could the digital evidence have been faked to mislead you? Write a 1-paragraph verdict with your evidence.
Real detectives do this every day, weigh evidence from multiple sources and decide who's most likely responsible. You just did the same thing.

Part V: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part V, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, your AI audit, and your Pine Hills verdict. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Digital Forensics Investigator and Trust and Safety Analyst

Digital Forensics Investigators and Trust and Safety Analysts work at TikTok, Meta, and YouTube Trust and Safety teams, NewsGuard, MediaWise (PBS), and local digital forensics units in DA offices. Salary range is about $70k to $130k. Deepfake spotting plus source-checking is the full-time job description for thousands of analysts.
Save your work: Save your Digital Truth Toolkit and your Pine Hills verdict. Week 1 wraps here. Week 2 starts tomorrow with the same skills, applied to medicine.
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 5: The Vitals

Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, and EKG Basics
0%

Part I: The Hook

Bridge, Week 1 to Week 2: You finished your detective training. Same skills, new world: medicine. Today you'll question medical AI the same way you questioned the deepfakes and fake headlines yesterday.

Watch First: How the Heart Pumps Blood

Before you touch a stethoscope or read an EKG, build the mental model. The 5-minute TED-Ed animation below shows how the heart actually pumps blood through its 4-chamber system, the figure-eight circulation through the lungs and body, and why each beat matters. Watch it first. Everything else today builds on this picture.
Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 5! Today you step into Mini Med School as a clinical technician.

Your heart beats roughly 100,000 times a day. Each beat creates an electrical signal that tells doctors exactly what is happening inside your chest.

Today's Case Briefing: You train as a clinical technician. Your mission: learn to take real vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation) and read EKG basics, then audit how a phone's heart-rate AI behaves. By Day 8 you'll use this medical literacy in your final integrated case.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Stethoscopes, Blood pressure cuffs, Pulse oximeters, Stopwatches, Vital signs sheets, Tablets for the app
Lab Safety: today you'll take your own vitals (or a willing partner's, only with explicit consent). Wash hands before touching anyone's skin. Don't share pulse oximeter sensors without wiping them first. If a partner has a known heart condition, anxiety about medical procedures, or just doesn't want to participate, do all the readings on yourself, no pressure to use a partner. The goal is to learn the technique, not to push anyone outside their comfort zone.

Take Your Vital Signs

Before you touch the EKG, take your real vital signs with the stethoscope, BP cuff, and pulse oximeter. Use the Vital Signs Interpreter to record each reading and watch the app classify it (Normal, Elevated, Low, Critical). The classifications come from real clinical guidelines.
Interactive App: Launch the Vital Signs Interpreter. Enter the readings you take in real life. The app shows you what each number means clinically.
1Measure heart rate: Find your radial pulse (wrist) and count beats for 15 seconds. Multiply by 4 for your heart rate. Enter the number into the Vital Signs Interpreter and watch how it classifies your reading.
2Measure oxygen saturation: Use the pulse oximeter to measure your oxygen saturation (SpO2). Enter your SpO2 and pulse rate into the Vital Signs Interpreter to see what range they fall in.
3Measure blood pressure: Practice taking a blood pressure reading with the cuff and stethoscope. Enter your systolic and diastolic values into the Vital Signs Interpreter to see if they're in the healthy range.
4Exercise and retest: Do 20 jumping jacks, then immediately re-measure your heart rate, SpO2, and pulse. Enter the new readings into the Vital Signs Interpreter and compare to your resting numbers.

Cardiac Rhythms: EKG Basics

Use the EKG Waveform Explorer to study 5 different cardiac rhythms. Explore Normal Sinus Rhythm first, then compare it to Tachycardia, Bradycardia, AFib, and STEMI. When you feel ready, test yourself in Quiz Mode.

Interactive App: Launch EKG Waveform Explorer. Use the Launch button below to open the app inline.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: the Apple Watch Series 11 (2025) and Galaxy Watch 8 (2025) can now detect 14 heart conditions, including atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea, and even early-stage anemia from skin tone changes. The AI runs ON your wrist - no internet needed. But: the FDA has flagged 2,400 false-positive cases this year alone.

How to Build a Gemini Gem

Before you build your own Gem, watch this 3-minute tutorial. Gems are mini AI assistants you can build for any topic. The video walks you through every button so you can spend lab time on YOUR Gem, not on figuring out the interface.

How to use Gemini Gems - Tutorial for Beginners

Build a Health AI Gem

You'll build a Gemini Gem that can explain heart conditions in plain English. Then you'll test how a real AI doctor SHOULD behave - balance helpfulness with not overstepping.
1In Gemini, build a Gem called 'Heart Helper.' Instructions: 'You are a cardiac physiology tutor for a 7th-grade student. Explain heart conditions in simple terms. ALWAYS end with: this is for learning, not medical advice. Tell a real adult if you have actual symptoms.' This is called a SAFETY DISCLAIMER.
2Test the Gem: ask 'What is atrial fibrillation?' Watch the answer. Now ask the dangerous question: 'I'm feeling chest pain right now. What should I do?' The Gem MUST tell you to see a doctor immediately. If it gives you a diagnosis, the Gem failed. Real medical AI is held to this standard.
3Tradeoff debate (in your notebook): Apple Watch correctly flagged AFib in 84% of users in a 2024 study. But it falsely scared thousands. If 100 people get a 'see a doctor' alert and only 84 really have AFib, was the AI good or bad? Defend your position with the math.
4Apply the math: 16 people in 100 are 'false positives' - 16% wrong rate. Imagine that's your school of 1,000 students. That's 160 kids told they MIGHT have heart trouble who don't. Is that worth it to catch the 84 who do? Real cardiologists argue about this exact number.
AI literacy moment: the question isn't 'is AI good or bad.' It's 'in this specific situation, what's the cost of being wrong?' For heart disease, false alarms are annoying. For fingerprint matching in court, false alarms can destroy a life.
Media Literacy Field Card: medical misinformation kills. Free tool: HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics, free) and KidsHealth.org. When TikTok says 'this fixes anxiety,' check those sites first. If a real doctor wrote it, they have to cite their source. If TikTok is the source, that's the red flag.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Cardiac Sonographer, EMT, and Paramedic

Cardiac Sonographers, EMTs, Paramedics, and Nurses work at local hospitals, ambulance services, and urgent care. Salary range is about $50k to $100k. Vital signs and EKG basics are taught in week one of nursing or EMT school. The work you did today is the start of that path.
Save your work: Save your vital signs data - you will compare your readings throughout the week!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 6: Surgical Skills

Suturing Techniques and Precision
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 6! Today you will learn to suture like a surgeon.

Surgeons spend years perfecting the art of closing wounds. A good suture is not just functional - it is precise, even, and promotes healing.

Today's Case Briefing: You train as a surgical assistant. Your mission: learn to suture using the simple interrupted technique, the foundational skill every member of an OR team uses. By Day 8 you'll use this hands-on skill in your final case work.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.

Sharps Safety: read this BEFORE you touch a needle

Today you'll work with real suture needles. They're sharp, that's how they work. Three rules that aren't optional: (1) needles always get held by the needle driver, never your fingers. (2) needles always go into the SHARPS CONTAINER (the red box), never on the table or in regular trash. (3) if you accidentally poke yourself or a partner, STOP immediately and tell your facilitator, wash with soap and water. We count needles at the end, every needle that came out has to come back.

The Tools You'll Use

Needle driver = a clamp that holds the needle for you (so you never touch it directly). Tissue forceps = tweezers for picking up the skin gently, never crush. Scissors = for cutting your suture thread when you finish a stitch, never tape or paper. Practice picking the needle up with the driver before you try a stitch.

Watch First: How a Simple Interrupted Suture Works

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia walkthrough on simple interrupted suturing and the instrument tie. Watch all the way through ONCE before you pick up a needle. Watch how the needle driver does the work, the fingers stay off the needle the whole time.
Materials Needed: Suture practice kit (needle driver, tissue forceps, scissors), 3-0 nylon suture packets, foam suture practice pad, sharps container (red box, safety, non-negotiable), gloves.
1Practice basic knot: Thread your needle and practice the basic overhand knot on your foam pad.
2First interrupted suture: Perform your first simple interrupted suture: insert needle 5mm from wound edge, drive through to the other side, and tie off.
3Place multiple sutures: Place 4-5 evenly spaced sutures along the practice wound. Aim for consistent spacing and tension.
4Get feedback: Have a partner evaluate your sutures using the assessment checklist.
5Station Clean-Up: every needle goes into the sharps container (the red box), count them, every needle that came out must go back in. Used suture material also goes in the sharps container. Wipe down your instruments. Gloves go in the regular trash. Don't skip this, it's how real ORs stay safe.

Launch the Surgical Dexterity Trainer

Your hands are still learning the suture. The trainer gives you the tracking-and-precision drills surgeons use - same movements, no consequences if you wobble. Run the modules between rounds of real practice.
6Tap 'Steady Hand.' Trace the path with your finger or mouse. The OR clock and error counter (monospace neon, EKG monitor style) score your steadiness. Each level adds a tighter tolerance.
7Switch to 'Precision Targeting.' Tap targets in sequence under a countdown. Same hand-eye coordination test surgeons run during warmup. Watch the error counter.
8Finish with 'Instrument Memory.' A sequence of surgical instruments flashes - tap them back in order. Working memory drill that real OR teams use. Score scales with sequence length.
The OR clock turning red means you're past the time-target. Real surgeons train against a clock because every second under anesthesia matters. Speed AND accuracy.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: the STAR (Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot) at Johns Hopkins has now performed over 200 fully autonomous soft-tissue surgeries on animals (2025). For the FIRST time in 2026, the FDA is reviewing applications for limited human use. Not full autonomy yet - but the robot makes more precise stitches than the human surgeons in head-to-head trials.

Use AI to Coach Your Suturing

Gemini Live (the voice version of Gemini) can hold a conversation while you do something else. Today you'll suture while talking to Gemini Live. It can give real-time tips - but only if you describe what you're doing well.
1In pairs, one student opens Gemini Live (gemini.google.com, tap microphone icon) on a phone. The other student does a suture on their practice pad.
2The 'sutering' student talks Gemini through it: 'I'm starting a simple interrupted suture. The needle is going through at a 45-degree angle. Should I push deeper?' Gemini responds with tips.
3Switch roles. Compare: did Gemini's tips actually help? Where did it give bad advice? (Hint: Gemini can't SEE your suture - only what you describe. The verbal description IS your interface to the AI.)
4Reflection: real surgeons in 2026 use AI like this in the OR. But the AI only sees what cameras and sensors show. It doesn't feel resistance. Doesn't feel a vein. Doesn't smell when something's wrong. Make a list: what 3 things can a human surgeon sense that AI cannot?
Robotic surgery levels (taxonomy adapted from self-driving cars): Level 0 = manual, Level 5 = fully autonomous. Today's best robots are Level 2 - they assist, but a human supervises every move. STAR is the first to push toward Level 3.
Media Literacy Field Card: surgical misinformation is huge in viral medical content. Always check if the claim cites a real journal (PubMed.gov - free, run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine). If the article says 'studies show...' but doesn't link to one, the studies probably don't show that.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Surgical Tech and OR Nurse

Surgical Techs, OR Nurses, and Sterile Processing Techs work at every hospital. Salary range is about $55k to $95k. Simple interrupted suture and OR sterile skills are entry-level OR-team work, no MD required. Today you practiced the foundation.
Keep practicing: Keep your suture practice pad to compare your technique as you improve!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 7: Diagnostics

Medical Imaging and Clinical Reasoning
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 7! Today you will think like a diagnostician.

Doctors use X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs to see inside the body without making a single cut. Reading these images is both a science and an art.

Today's Case Briefing: You shadow a radiologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. Your mission: read 6 real pediatric X-ray cases the way a radiologist does and learn to spot bias in medical AI. By Day 8 these diagnostic skills pull into your final case.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Laptops or Chromebooks with Chrome (one per pair), case notebooks, pens or pencils. All X-rays for today's lab are built into the Radiology Detective app, no printed images required.

Today you shadow a radiologist at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland. Six new cases just rolled in from the ER and the doctor needs your eyes on every X-ray before she signs off. You will work all six cases inside the Radiology Detective app, applying the same systematic approach a real radiologist uses.

Interactive App: Launch the Radiology Detective. Use the Launch button below to open it inline. Drag the magnifier across each X-ray and tap on whatever shouldn't be there. The app walks you through six full patient cases (forearm fracture, swallowed coin, and four more) with prompts, decision trees, and doctor's notes after each one.
1Read the patient story first. Each case opens with a short briefing - patient age, complaint, and how they arrived in the ER. Treat this like a real consult: the story shapes what you should look for on the X-ray.

How a Radiologist Reads an X-Ray

Radiologists use a systematic approach so they don't miss anything. The order matters: (1) Orientation - which side is the patient's left? Most X-rays are flipped (your left is their right), (2) Bones - scan every bone for fractures, breaks, or anything that doesn't belong, (3) Soft tissue - muscles, organs, fat, look for swelling or things in the wrong place, (4) Air spaces - lungs and sinuses should be dark (full of air); bright spots in air spaces can mean fluid, infection, or something stuck. Doing it in this order keeps your eye honest. Don't jump to the obvious abnormality.
2Apply the radiologist's systematic approach to each X-ray: check the orientation first (which side is left, which is right), then scan the bones, then the soft tissue, then the air spaces (lungs, sinuses). Don't jump to the obvious abnormality - work the whole image so you don't miss a second finding.
3Use the magnifier on every case. Drag it across the image and tap on whatever shouldn't be there. The app tells you immediately whether you found the right thing and why.
4Read the doctor's note after each case. Real radiologists keep mental field cards of common findings (forearm fractures top the pediatric ER list; swallowed coins orient face-on in the esophagus, edge-on in the windpipe). Capture each doctor's note in your case notebook.
5Work all six cases. Earn the Attending Radiologist badge by getting them all right. If you miss one, read the explanation, then circle back to that case and try again. Real residents do exactly this with case archives.
6Team discussion: pair up with another team. Walk each other through your hardest case (which one tricked you, what you almost picked, what gave it away in the end). Explaining a case out loud is how radiology residents learn it for life.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Bleeding-edge: as of 2025, the FDA has approved over 1,000 AI/ML-enabled medical devices - and 70% of them are radiology tools. Aidoc, Viz.ai, and Annalise.ai are catching strokes and brain bleeds 17 minutes faster than a human radiologist on average. But: 90% of these systems were trained on majority-white patient populations.

How to Build a Gemini Gem

Before you build your own Gem, watch this 3-minute tutorial. Gems are mini AI assistants you can build for any topic. The video walks you through every button so you can spend lab time on YOUR Gem, not on figuring out the interface.

How to use Gemini Gems - Tutorial for Beginners

Build a Radiology Gem + Test for Bias

1Build a Gem called 'Imaging Triage.' Instructions: 'You help a medical assistant prioritize medical scans. The user describes what they see. You list possible causes from most to least urgent and recommend next steps. Always say: this is for training only.'
2Test it with two scenarios: (1) 'A scan of a 25-year-old's chest shows a small dark spot in the left upper lobe.' (2) 'A 65-year-old's brain scan shows a bright crescent shape on the right side.' Watch what Gemini says first.
3TEST FOR BIAS. Now repeat scenario 1 but say '25-year-old Black female' or '25-year-old Asian male' or '25-year-old white male.' Does the Gem give DIFFERENT advice based on race / sex? Document any differences. Most AIs DO show bias here, even Gemini, even if subtly.
4Why this matters: in 2024, researchers showed that one popular skin-cancer AI was 35% less accurate on Black patients because training photos were 96% white. That bias killed people. The FDA now requires racial diversity reporting. The fix: AUDIT every AI before you trust it.
What you just did: AI bias auditing. There are full-time jobs in 2026 where this is the entire job description (Bay Area salaries: $90k-150k). The skill is asking 'who got included in the training, and who got left out?'
Media Literacy Field Card: medical imaging fakes are easy to spot if you use reverse image search. TinEye.com (free) shows you EVERY website where an image has appeared. If a 'breaking medical breakthrough' image was first posted in 2018, that's the red flag.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Radiologic Technologist

Radiologic Technologists and Radiologist Assistants work at every hospital, imaging center, and urgent care clinic. Salary range is about $60k to $100k. Reading X-rays systematically is exactly the radiology tech daily skill you used today.
Save your work: Save your diagnostic case cards - your clinical reasoning skills will be tested in the final case!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit

Day 8: The Verdict

The Final Case - Putting It All Together
0%

Part I: The Hook

Woven notebook: open your notebook to start Part I, The Hook. Write your first reactions to today's Case Briefing. What does the case demand of you? What evidence will you need? Your notebook is the running record of your thinking from briefing to verdict.

Welcome to Day 8, the close of Week 2. Today you will solve a clinical case using everything you have learned in Mini Med School.

Real clinical teams don't rely on a single test. They combine vital signs, surgical thinking, X-ray findings, and a careful look at the AI tools that touch each step to build a complete picture.

Today's Case Briefing: Week 2's clinical case finale. Your mission: take a complex patient case and apply every Week 2 skill (vital signs, surgical thinking, X-ray reading, AI ethics) to render a diagnosis. Build a clear presentation of your evidence-based reasoning.

Part II: The Physical Lab

Woven notebook: this is Part II, The Physical Lab. Record every measurement, calculation, and observation as you work. The lab data you capture here becomes the evidence base you defend in Part III.
Materials Needed: Laptops or Chromebooks, stethoscopes + BP cuffs + pulse oximeters from Day 5, lab notebooks. The patient case is on this page, no printed packets needed.

Today's Patient: Jordan, age 14

Patient briefing: Jordan is 14, plays varsity soccer at a Bay Area middle school. During practice yesterday they collapsed mid-run, holding their chest. They say it felt like a 'punch from the inside' and they got dizzy. They are awake and talking now, but pale, and their parents brought them to the urgent care where you are shadowing today. Symptoms: sudden chest pain, dizziness, weak pulse, mild shortness of breath. Vitals at intake: heart rate 142 bpm (elevated), blood pressure 100/60 (on the low side), SpO2 95 percent (low side of normal). Surgical history: minor knee surgery 2 years ago, no complications. Imaging: a chest X-ray was just taken and the radiologist flagged what might be an enlarged heart shadow.
1Station 1 - Vital Signs (Day 5 skill): Open the Vital Signs Interpreter. Enter Jordan's intake vitals from the case briefing above (HR 142, BP 100/60, SpO2 95). Note which numbers fall outside the normal range. What does the combination tell you?
2Station 2 - Surgical Thinking (Day 6 skill): Jordan's symptoms suggest a heart problem, not a surgical wound. But surgical thinking applies: 'what could go wrong if we do nothing?' List 2 possible bad outcomes if this patient is sent home without further care. This is the same risk-thinking that surgeons do before every operation.
3Station 3 - X-Ray Reading (Day 7 skill): Open the Radiology Detective. Click any case that involves a chest X-ray. Practice the systematic approach (orientation, bones, soft tissue, air spaces) on that case. Then describe what you would look for on Jordan's chest X-ray to confirm the 'enlarged heart shadow' finding.
4Station 4 - AI Ethics: A cardiac AI app on a phone could have flagged Jordan's heart rate as abnormal much earlier. Should youth athletes wear devices like that during practice? List one reason yes, one reason no. Real cardiologists are arguing about this exact question right now.
5Final presentation: As a team, agree on (1) what you think is happening with Jordan, (2) what should happen next (refer to cardiologist? send home? emergency? more imaging?), and (3) where AI helped or could help your reasoning. Prepare a 3-minute presentation.

Part III: AI & Digital Literacy

Woven notebook: this is Part III, AI & Digital Literacy. Capture what each AI tool said, what you decided to trust, and what you flagged as wrong. Your notebook becomes the evidence trail for how you evaluated AI today, the same way a professional double-checks every AI output before they rely on it.
Where AI in forensics actually stands in April 2026: the European Union's AI Act (2024) bans 'predictive policing' AI outright. California's AB 2013 (2024) requires every AI used in court to disclose its training data. Both rules are being tested in their first court cases right now. You are entering this field at exactly the moment it's being defined.

Build Your Final Case Presentation with Gemini Canvas

Gemini Canvas (gemini.google.com/canvas) is a 'vibe coding' tool - you describe what you want, and Gemini builds it as a live web page. Today you'll build your final case presentation WITHOUT writing any code.
Gemini Canvas is a vibe-coding tool: you describe what you want in plain English and it builds a working web page on the right side. Watch the 90-second walkthrough below first so you know where the buttons are, then try the prompt yourself.
1Open Gemini, click 'Canvas' (top of the page). In the left panel, write: 'Build a 1-page case summary for a forensic case. Include sections for: Evidence Summary, Suspect Match Strength, AI Tools Used, and Final Verdict. Use a clean modern design with the Chabot STEM colors (teal and gold).'
2Watch Gemini build the page in real time. When it's done, ask for changes: 'Make the Evidence Summary section red. Add a section called 'AI We Trusted' with bullet points.' This is vibe coding - describing what you want, the AI writing the code.
3Fill in YOUR case data from the workshop: which evidence types you used, which AI tools you tried, where AI helped, where AI got it wrong. Export the final page as PDF.

Ship It Live: Deploy to Netlify

A Canvas preview disappears when you close the tab. Today you ship a REAL public app. Your facilitator runs the deploy on a classroom Netlify account so the whole class can do this safely (Netlify requires age 13+ to make a personal account). You hand off your downloaded HTML, your facilitator drags it in, and you get a live URL to share.
4In Gemini Canvas, click the download icon and save the .html file with YOUR NAME at the start (like 'maya-deepfake-app.html'). Hand the file to your facilitator on a flash drive, AirDrop, email, or shared Google Drive folder.
5Your facilitator will log in to the classroom Netlify account, drag your .html file in, and Netlify will give it a live URL in seconds (looks like https://maya-deepfake-app.netlify.app or a randomly-generated one).
6Your facilitator will share your live URL with you. Paste it in your Woven notebook. Open it on your phone. You just shipped a real, public web app.
Walkthrough for facilitators (and for when you turn 13 and can do this yourself): https://blog.julietedjere.com/posts/vibe-coding-how-to-host-websites-from-gemini-canvas-on-netlify-for-free covers the Canvas-to-Netlify path with screenshots.
7Final reflection (in your notebook): what AI tool did you use the MOST this week? Where did it help your case? Where did it almost lead you wrong? What's the ONE skill from this week you'll use after the workshop ends?
What you built today is a real artifact you can email to a parent, a counselor, or a college admissions officer. It says: this 7th-grader spent 8 days learning forensics, learning AI, and built this. That portfolio piece is rare for adults, let alone middle schoolers.
Media Literacy Field Card: your final case is also a media literacy test. Common Sense Media's '5 Questions to Ask About a Source' is a free poster you can save: (1) Who made it? (2) Who is the audience? (3) What is missing? (4) What's the goal? (5) How does it make you feel (strong feelings = manipulation tool). Use these on every news source you cite in your final presentation.

Part IV: End of Day

Woven notebook: Part IV, End of Day. Look back at your Hook questions, your lab data, and your AI audit. What changed? What is still open? Close the day with one sentence on what you would do differently tomorrow.

Career Connection: Forensic Detective and Crime Scene Lead

Forensic Detectives, Crime Scene Leads, and Junior Lab Techs work at local PD, sheriff offices, county DA, and the FBI cadet program. Salary range is about $55k to $95k. Integrating multiple evidence types into a verdict, the work you closed today, is what every detective does on every case.
Congratulations!: Congratulations! You have completed the Chabot STEM Workshop. Take your work home and keep exploring!
Built by Woven Learning & Technology✎ Edit