First Badge

Week 5 brief · Operator · Applications and Software

Operator Week 2: Browsers and AI

Mon, Nov 9 – Tue, Nov 10 · 2:30–4:00 PM · Room 105 or live on Zoom

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This week

Find out what your browser stores and shows, and learn to use AI tools honestly and safely. Tuesday is the Operator Gate.

Heads up

  • Halfway point: three badges by Tuesday keeps you on pace for the January exam.

Read-aheads

Before Monday (15 minutes)
  • Read the Browsers notes below.
  • In your browser, find where to clear the cache and where to see a site's cookies. Don't clear anything yet; just find the menus.
  • Click the padlock next to any web address and look at the certificate details.
Before Tuesday (20 minutes)
  • Read the AI notes below.
  • Write down one time an AI tool or a website gave you wrong information. How did you find out?
  • Finish the Operator Study Path and try the Check yourself questions.

The missions

Monday, Nov 9 · Day 9

6A · GameBrowser Detective

The browser knows more than you think. Investigate what the cache stores, what cookies remember, what private mode does and does not hide, and how the padlock proves a site's identity. Your crew solves four browser mysteries using only the developer tools and settings.

  1. Clear the cache on a demo page and observe what reloads; then view the cookies the site set.
  2. Open private mode and test which items are still visible to the network and which are not saved.
  3. Inspect a site's certificate and record who issued it and when it expires.

Turn in: Detective report answering all four mysteries with screenshots.

Tuesday, Nov 10 · Day 10

Operator Gate today. You must pass the Builder Gate first.

6B · Gate dayAI Fact or Fiction

Generative AI can draft an essay or invent a fake quote with the same confidence. Your crew tests an AI assistant with ten prompts, catches its hallucinations, and writes rules for using it responsibly in school. Then take the Operator Gate for badge three.

  1. Run the ten prompts and mark each answer as verified, partly wrong, or hallucinated, with your source.
  2. Write three crew rules for using AI on schoolwork that cover honesty, privacy, and fact-checking.
  3. Take the 20-question Operator Gate solo; 17 of 20 (85 percent) passes.

Turn in: AI verification table, the three crew rules, and each member's Operator Gate result.

Notes

Browsers

  • Cache: saved copies of page pieces (images, scripts) so sites load faster. Clearing it makes the browser download fresh copies, which can fix a page that looks broken.
  • Cookies: small files a site stores to remember you, like your login or cart. Some cookies track you across sites.
  • Private (incognito) mode: does not save history or cookies on that device after you close the window. It does NOT hide you from the school network, your internet provider or the websites you visit.
  • HTTPS and the padlock: the connection is encrypted, and a certificate authority confirmed the site's identity. A scam site can still have a padlock.
  • Extensions and plug-ins add features to a browser. Only install ones you trust; they can read what you do.

Everyday software

  • Word processor: documents. Spreadsheet: numbers and formulas. Presentation: slides. Collaboration tools: several people edit one file at the same time.
  • Local apps install on the device and can work offline. Web apps run in a browser and need the internet.

Artificial intelligence

  • Generative AI creates new text, images or code from patterns it learned from training data.
  • A hallucination is when AI states something false or made up with full confidence.
  • Use AI to brainstorm and outline, then check facts in reliable sources and cite them.
  • Never paste your own or anyone else's personal information into an AI tool.
  • Turning in AI writing as your own work breaks most school honesty rules. Follow your teacher's rules for each class.

Vocabulary

CacheStored copies of web page files
CookieA small file a site uses to remember you
CertificateProof of a site's identity that enables HTTPS
Generative AIAI that creates new content
HallucinationFalse information an AI presents as true

Check yourself

  1. Does private mode stop the school network from seeing which sites you visit?
  2. A chatbot gives you a book quote you can't find anywhere. What is that called?
  3. A page looks broken right after the site updated. What's a quick fix to try?
Show answers
  1. No. It only stops your device from saving history and cookies.
  2. A hallucination
  3. Clear the browser cache and reload.

Bring

  • A charged device
  • Your student ID card
  • Your AI example from the read-ahead
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