Learn · Guide
Student & teacher guide
How the warmer-year notebook works, step by step: first look (A), a warmer year, new idea (B). Teacher notes at the end.
- 10 min read
Use real field evidence.
You are following the field guide. Record real observations and keep anything you did not check as unknown. The links below keep you in your field notebook.
Two clocks: your visit uses real Philadelphia time. The simulation uses recorded historical weather. It cannot tell you what will happen to your plant next week.
1. Choose a plant. Save your first look (A).
Give one plant a school-approved nickname. Use the same branch, stem or patch and photo viewpoint each time. Choose a candidate species with your teacher; record an uncertain identity as unknown.
Describe first, explain second. “In photo B, one bud on the same twig is wider than in photo A. I can see a pale edge between its scales.” That is visible evidence. “A warmer week might matter” is a possible cause; the photo alone does not measure temperature or rule out other causes.
Do not infer a temperature cause from leaf colour alone. “Uncertain” and “not observed” are useful records, and no visible change is a valid result.
- Notice: describe a visible detail and the date. Record what you did not check as “not observed.”
- Explain: suggest one possible reason, keeping it separate from the description.
- Predict: say what you expect to change and what would challenge that prediction.
Save your first look (A) before viewing model output. Its original evidence and prediction stay preserved. Do not invent temperature, humidity or root-water measurements to complete the form.
2. Compare a warmer year.
Choose a historical start date and a time jump. First use the recorded year as it was. Then, if useful, change temperature alone and keep the other settings the same. Compare the plant-response description before opening the detailed numbers.
Use the weather preview linked to the saved run. Check its date, weather source and the temperature change it shows. A rain effect shows a mapped weather signal; it is not a photograph or a measurement of your plant. Manual studio changes are visual experiments, not field evidence.
What if my plant cannot use the teaching model?
Continue observing it. The current plant-process model is an uncalibrated deciduous teaching proxy. Choosing a species does not supply species-specific parameters. An observation-only plant can support field comparisons without a simulated plant diagnosis.
3. Revise the explanation. Save your new idea (B).
Compare three things: your original evidence, your prediction and the warmer-year result. Different years, sites or species may make the comparison limited. A mismatch does not automatically mean your observation was wrong.
- Compare: what agrees or differs, and are the conditions comparable?
- Explain: keep or revise your explanation; include another possible cause.
- Plan: name missing evidence and your next real observation.
Save B. Open the evidence card and ask a partner to point to a dated observation before questioning your explanation. Peer discussion saved here stays local; Xeed does not send it to your partner.
4. Return. Compare. Keep a copy.
At the next real visit, select the earlier visit and start a linked return for the same plant. Save a new first look (A) before reflecting. Compare the earlier prediction with the new evidence: consistent, different, no visible change or insufficient evidence are all valid outcomes. A return comparison does not require another model run.
Download A and the B version you want to share through your school’s submission process. Also download all paired JSON data as a backup. Downloads do not submit an assignment or create a cloud archive.
Continue on another browser or device
Download all paired JSON data first. On the other device, open the same notebook mode, choose the JSON file under Restore from a file, review the import preview and confirm. Practice and field data stay separate. Keep your original file until you have checked the restored records.
If Xeed reports that a save failed, download the recovery copy before leaving. Browser storage can be cleared; it is not a class backup. The photo field stores a reference, not the image file.
For teachers: make the comparison useful.
Begin with one accessible plant, one repeatable feature and one question. The lesson sequence and assessment suggestions below are proposed; they have not been evaluated with students.
Rehearse first: open the practice notebook with clearly labelled invented observations, kept apart from field records.
Before the first field visit
- Confirm an accessible observation site and plant identity; choose a species-appropriate observation protocol.
- Model a description beside a causal explanation. Agree on a repeatable viewpoint and how to record unknowns.
- Set the class return schedule, summer handover, photo storage and school submission process. These are not automated in Xeed.
- Rehearse A → a warmer year → B in practice mode before using real field records. For observation-only plants, use dated field comparisons without claiming modelled physiology.
- Data and consent: read What Xeed stores and shares below, and follow your school’s rules for student data and parent notice before students make turn-in links.
Turn-in links, shared devices and the end of the year
A turn-in link holds the student’s record inside the link itself; nothing is uploaded. Anyone who has the link can read it, so students use nicknames only and paste it only into your class system’s assignment box, never a public chat. Links are not tamper-proof: a student could edit one, so treat a link as the student’s own copy, not a verified record.
On a shared computer every student who uses the same browser profile sees the same notes. Give each student their own profile or guest session where you can, and have students use Not you? Start a fresh notebook on Your notes when a device changes hands.
- At the end of the year, have students download their notes (Your notes, Download everything).
- Delete turn-in links from your inbox and class system; Xeed cannot reach them.
- On each classroom device use End of school year on Your notes; a record added to your own notebook from a turn-in page goes the same way.
Questions to use during the activity
- Which sentence describes something you actually observed?
- What changed in the warmer year, and what stayed fixed?
- Are the year, plant, site and time window comparable?
- What else could explain the same visible change?
- What could you check next to distinguish the explanations?
Treat the evidence card as the shared reasoning carrier. AR/VR may later present or support interaction with the card; it does not replace the observation, comparison or revision task.
What to assess, and what the prototype cannot establish
Compare A with B for evidence references, a fair comparison, alternative explanations, acknowledged uncertainty and a testable next observation. Look for reasoned retention as well as revision; agreement with the model is not the learning target.
A single weather event or year does not establish a climate trend. Airport weather is a regional reference, not a plant-site measurement. The model and visual mapping do not diagnose disease, forecast a real plant or establish a causal explanation. Software checks do not demonstrate learning gains.
Gather real usability and learning evidence before making effectiveness claims. Keep teacher feedback and archive copies in the school’s approved systems; this prototype has no authenticated teacher dashboard or automatic classroom sync.
What Xeed stores and shares
Draft register, pending the reviewed privacy notice. It names what this build keeps, where, and who can see it.
For students
- Your notes stay in this browser on this device. Xeed’s server does not receive them.
- A turn-in link carries one plant’s record inside the link. Anyone who has the link can read it, so use nicknames only.
- Paste a turn-in link only into your school’s class system, never a public chat.
- Use my camera: the camera picture stays on your device; the hand-tracking model is downloaded from Google’s servers.
- Start speaking: your browser, not Xeed, may send your voice to its speech service. Xeed only sees the words.
- Your notes page can download each notebook and delete it from this device.
Full register · for teachers, parents and schools
On this device
| Key | What it holds | Kind |
|---|---|---|
xeed-6139-development-practice-v1 | Plant nicknames, visits, four leaves, first looks (A), new ideas (B) and partner notes. | Your notes |
xeed-6139-four-leaf-draft-v1 | An observation in progress, until it is saved as A. | Goes with your notes |
xeed-6139-selected-subject-v1 | Which plant the activity opens on. | Goes with your notes |
xeed-6139-class-code | The class code typed for turn-in links. | Goes with your notes |
xeed-educ6139-climate-inquiry-v2 | The warmer-year notebook: visits, model runs and reports. | Your notes |
xeed-educ6139-climate-inquiry-v2-practice | Practice entries, kept apart from field work. | Your notes |
xeed.public-demo.study.v1 | The digital plant study on /growth: questions, comparisons and responses. | Your notes |
xeed-educ6139-annual-v2 | Older full-year trials and visits (read-only). | Older notebook |
xeed-educ6139-annual-v2-practice | Older practice trials (read-only). | Older notebook |
xeed-educ6139-observation-loop-v1 | Older warmer-year visits (read-only). | Older notebook |
xeed-educ6139-climate-v1 | Twelve-day comparisons from the retired page. | Older notebook |
xeed-6139-field-mode | Whether the light outdoor palette is on. | Display setting |
xeed-6139-stage-plant | Which reference plant the weather stage shows. | Display setting |
xeed-motion | Calm or full motion. | Display setting |
Your notes deletes any of these from this device, and clears them all for a new learner or at the end of the school year.
On the server
Off unless LIFE_AUTH_MODE=sites-proxy and a database are configured.
| Table | What it holds | How long |
|---|---|---|
studies | The signed-in Digital plant study. | Eligible for deletion 395 days after the last save |
organisms | One saved Filix life. | Eligible for deletion 395 days after the last save |
life_commits | The life’s numeric history; inquiry text as references only. | Deleted with its life |
inquiries | The current inquiry: baseline, prediction, observations, revision. | Eligible for deletion 395 days after the last save |
inquiry_versions | Each saved version of an inquiry, the one place its text is kept. | Deleted with its life |
ai_runs | Follow-up question runs: hashes and references, the generated question. | Eligible for deletion after 90 days |
legacy_imports | A copy of an older study attached at import. | Deleted with its life |
behavior_runs | Movement decisions (numbers only). | Deleted with its life |
behavior_shadow_runs | Offline evaluation jobs (numbers and aliased ids). | Eligible for deletion after 90 days |
plant_dialogue_runs | AI text runs: the newest four per plant keep words and replies, older ones only time and cost. | Eligible for deletion after 30 days |
life_rate_limits | Save counters per minute. | Replaced each minute |
deletion_log | One row per deletion or purge: time, scope and row counts, no owner. | Kept; counts only |
Default windows, pending the owner's confirmation (XEED_RETENTION_* in days): study and life 395, follow-ups 90, AI text 30, shadow evaluations 90. When its window ends a row becomes eligible for deletion; until a scheduled job exists, the operator runs the purge, so nothing is removed automatically yet. Rows saved before this release have no expiry until the operator sets one. A deletion you ask for (Delete buttons, the DELETE routes) happens at once.
A turn-in link carries the record in its #fragment; the server never receives it.
Other services
- OpenAI Sites on Cloudflare Workers and D1: Every page request (IP address, URL); signed-in studies when sync is on. Always (hosting).
- OpenAI API (Responses, store: false): The words typed in the text experiment, the plant’s numbers and up to three earlier turns. Only for accounts on the server’s allowlist.
- Google Cloud Storage: The device’s IP address when the camera starts (the hand-tracking model file). Only after Use my camera.
- The browser’s speech service: Audio, by the browser’s own rules; Xeed sees only the words. Only after Start speaking.
Off unless XEED_TEXT_MODE=openai; then only for allowlisted accounts.