This 90 minute interactive workshop connects neuroscience and machine learning through the lens of survival: how the brain helps us make fast decisions - like whether to run from a tiger — and how computers are being taught to do the same.

Topics include:

  • How neurons work individually and in networks.

  • How the brain processes visual information and makes decisions.

  • How these ideas are modelled in machine learning, using perceptrons, activation functions, and neural networks.

  • Applications of machine learning, from image recognition to driving.

Materials

Lesson Plan and Slides.

Handouts

Worksheets and MCQs

Curriculum Aligment

Primary and Secondary

Irish curriculum alignment

The Machine Learning workshop introduces students to how a simple neural network unit — the perceptron — makes decisions by multiplying inputs, summing the results, and applying a threshold rule. While the workshop is rooted in mathematics, it connects naturally to a wide range of subjects across all three levels of the Irish curriculum, from SESE Science and SPHE in primary school through to Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, and Philosophy at Leaving Certificate.

Subject Primary Junior Cycle Leaving Cert
Mathematics Data and Chance Number and Algebra Algebra; Functions
Science Working Scientifically Nature of Science —
Computer Science — Coding and Computational Thinking AI and Machine Learning; Applied Learning Tasks in Python
Applied Mathematics — — Mathematical Modelling
Business Studies — AI’s impact —
SPHE / CSPE Myself and the Wider World; technology in daily life Rights and Digital Citizenship; bias and fairness in algorithmic decision-making —
Religious Education / Philosophy — — Technology and ethics

Materials

Teachers start with the lesson plan, includes timing, learning objectives and preparation notes.

Machine Learning Teacher Lesson Plan Machine Learning Slides

Handouts

Worksheet Solution
Machine Learning Worksheet Solution
Machine Learning Short Worksheet Solution
Machine Learning MCQs Solutions

Machine Learning Slides

Certificate of Completion

Machine Learning Cert

The material is released under CC-BY-NC. Feel free to share and adapt them.

Contact

Have a question about the workshops, want to arrange a session for your school, or have feedback to share?

We'd love to hear how the workshops went:

Student Feedback Form Teacher Feedback Form

References

’t Hart, B. M., Achakulvisut, T., Adeyemi, A., Akrami, A., Alicea, B., Alonso‑Andres, A., … van Viegen, T. (2022). Neuromatch Academy: a 3‑week, online summer school in computational neuroscience. Journal of Open Source Education, 5(49), 118. https://doi.org/10.21105/jose.00118