Observe how raw notes make a simple project harder, then design a more useful checklist.
Architect skill: Identify a workflow problem before choosing AI features.
The full mission is planned for 75 minutes. Split it into short activities and take breaks. Laptop or desktop with a modern browser for editing. Phones can read the guide and observe or try the preview. Start with fictional data.
Separate facts from actions before asking a helper to make a plan.
Parent prep · before you start
Run the initial index.html and keep the four note lines on paper.
Do not use school, health, family or other personal notes.
Activity 1 of 3 · 6 minutes
Sort paper notes
Child · driver & designer
Circle two actions and leave facts as context.
Parent · thinking partner
Read each original line and ask whether someone can do it.
Number the original lines 1–4.
Circle TODO lines 2 and 4.
Write the intended two-task output without inventing deadlines or people.
Look for this: The child distinguishes actions from project/fact lines.
Walk through an example
Predict before revealing the result, then try the change in the real workspace. This explanation does not run or test your code.
Before
The starter copies all four nonempty original lines as checklist items.
One change
Append TODO: Make a paper welcome sign and press Build checklist.
Five items appear, including two non-actions. The desired three actions refer to original lines 2,4,5; productivity-02 implements that parser.
Demo prompt 1 of 2
Current versus intended
See the limitation before fixing it.
Try in the workspace: Build the five-line notes and show which copied lines are facts.
Check what actually happened
Run each check yourself. Mark it only after comparing the actual output with the expectation; a tick does not automatically test your code.
Signs to discuss together
The observed five-item output is distinguished from intended three actions.
A checkbox changes the completion summary.
Stuck? Make the problem smaller
Read the output together. Undo your last small change and run again. Export a copy before resetting files. If this device cannot run the project, read the full reference below and use the parent guide to prepare another computer.
The extra line is not included.
Click Build checklist after editing notes; source changes do not automatically rewrite tasks.
Your manually edited task disappears.
Build creates a new checklist from notes. Save the working input and avoid rebuilding after manual edits unless you intend to reset them.
Explain together
What should the computer copy and what should a person decide?
Why keep the facts even when they are not tasks?
Before you pause: A problem statement, five fictional note lines, and a three-action expected checklist. Export workspace files for a portable backup and remember this activity or write its name on paper.
Use Run in the workspace after one small edit. Browser output is evidence of this browser run; native devices and physical robots need separate checks.
Idea-to-Action Studio workspace
Opening the original starter…
Full authored lesson · setup, code, checks & extensions
The complete original lesson is preserved here. Its downloaded-project instructions describe the local development path; the browser introduction above needs no installation. Longer and native/hardware tasks may need the adult-prepared tools listed in the course overview.
By the end, you can…
Describe the difference between a fact and an action.
Run the starter and explain its current limitation.
Edit fictional input and preserve a working checkpoint.
Keep your starter project and builder notebook open. Make one change at a time and save a working copy before trying the next idea.
1. Try the paper workflow
The fictional Moon Garden project has facts mixed with tasks. A useful helper should make the next actions easier to find without inventing work.
Copy the four starter note lines onto paper. Circle the two actions.
Ask a partner to locate the next task; note a hesitation rather than scoring the person.
2. Run and inspect the starter
The starter copies every nonempty line into a checklist. That is visible behavior, not a finished action extractor. Text edits and checkboxes already work.
Download and save your copy, open it, and press Build checklist. Count four items.
Append this fictional fifth line to the notes textarea and rebuild.
Notes textarea — append a line · text
TODO: Make a paper welcome sign
3. Define a useful result
Separate the editable source notes from the derived plan. The learner stays responsible for what becomes a task.
Write the expected three-item checklist for the five-line input.
Change one task label in the checklist and tick it; observe the completion counter. Save a screenshot or paper sketch, not a real personal note.
Ask your AI coach
Use the JR Playground if configured, or ask an adult to operate their approved coding assistant. These prompts also work as questions for a human partner.
I am building a helper for these fictional Moon Garden notes. Identify which lines are actions and which are facts. Explain one ambiguous case. Do not add tasks that are absent from the notes.
Before accepting its answer
Compare each proposed task with a source line.
Reject invented deadlines, people, or materials.
Prove it works
Test 1: Build the unedited starter notes.
Expected: Four items appear: the starter currently copies facts too.
Test 2: Append the fifth TODO line and rebuild.
Expected: Five items appear; your intended result is three actions.
Test 3: Tick one item.
Expected: The summary says 1 of 5 complete.
If you get stuck
The extra line is not included.
Click Build checklist after editing notes; source changes do not automatically rewrite tasks.
Your manually edited task disappears.
Build creates a new checklist from notes. Save the working input and avoid rebuilding after manual edits unless you intend to reset them.
Choose your challenge
Build together · guided
Adult reads each line; learner sorts Fact and Action cards.
Take the controls · independent
Learner identifies the parser limitation and writes expected output.
Go deeper · architecture challenge
Invent one ambiguous sentence and explain why a human should decide whether it is a task.
Save your evidence
A problem statement, five fictional note lines, and a three-action expected checklist.
Reflect: Which work should a computer do automatically, and which part should stay under the writer’s control?
Try this with your camp team
Run a note-sorting relay with fictional project cards; count disagreements and discuss the labeling rule.
After the public first mission, a parent or guardian uses the existing access flow to open later authored missions. Your workspace remains available.