One of the highlights of my summer was collaborating with an outstanding team of educators during the Regional 4-H STEM Summer Camp, hosted by Rockingham County. Over several days, youth from nine North Carolina counties—Stokes, Caswell, Forsyth, Davidson, Guilford, Rockingham, Alamance, Orange, and Person—came together to explore STEM through hands-on discovery.
The week began not with technology, but with team building. From there, students tackled a series of increasingly challenging activities: Junk Drawer Robotics, marshmallow catapults, LEGO WeDo, SPIKE robotics, Sphero Indi, Sphero BOLT, Makey Makey, indoor drones, and an inspiring demonstration from the Rockingham County Robotics Team.
One highlight was a live demonstration by the Caswell County Field Crops Agent, who showed how professional drones are used in agriculture to monitor crops, collect data, and support better management decisions—connecting STEM concepts directly to North Carolina agriculture.
Among the week's many STEM experiences, I had the privilege of partnering with fellow Digital Literacy Agent Tyler Cobb to develop one of the camp's newest sessions: "AI & Astronomy: Using a New Tool for the Oldest Science."
Astronomy has always advanced through better tools. Humanity began by observing the night sky with the naked eye. Over time, we created star charts, invented telescopes, discovered the power of spectroscopy, built computers to model the universe, and launched space telescopes that can peer billions of years into the past. At camp, we didn't use physical telescopes—instead, students explored the cosmos with Stellarium, a digital planetarium, that allowed them to zoom through space, travel forward and backward in time, and investigate stars, planets, and constellations using real astronomical data. Today, artificial intelligence is becoming another tool in that long tradition, helping scientists—and students—discover patterns, explore better questions, and make sense of enormous amounts of information.
Our goal wasn't to let AI answer every question. One of the most valuable lessons wasn't finding answers—it was verifying them. Students used Stellarium to confirm or challenge information generated by AI, reinforcing that trustworthy knowledge comes from evidence, not confidence.
One of the biggest takeaways wasn't about astronomy at all. Good scientists ask good questions. We challenged students to apply that same mindset to AI by using the 3 C's—Context, Command, and Constraint—to craft prompts that were clear, purposeful, and testable.
Students explored the night sky, located Polaris, investigated constellations, traveled through time using astronomical simulations, and learned about NASA's Artemis missions. AI became a partner in inquiry—helping explain concepts, compare ideas, and encourage deeper investigation while students continually compared AI's responses with direct observation and evidence.
The experience reminded me that the best STEM education isn't about chasing the newest technology. It's about cultivating curiosity, critical thinking, and the confidence to explore unfamiliar problems.
I'm grateful to the entire 4-H team, my colleague Tyler Cobb, and our hosts in Rockingham County. Experiences like this remind me that some of the best learning happens when educators from different disciplines collaborate around a shared mission of inspiring curiosity.
The tools will continue to change.
Curiosity never should.
