A A SCIENCE SCIENCE GIANT
MYSTERY MYSTERY
The Adventures of 19 Prompt Engineers and Animal Detectives
A A SCIENCE SCIENCE GIANT
The Adventures of 19 Prompt Engineers and Animal Detectives MYSTERY MYSTERY
In collaboration with a 2nd grade class
FUNDED BY Robin Hood Foundation
COPYRIGHT © 2025 THE GIANT ROOM
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
For four weeks, The GIANT Room and Joan Ganz Cooney Center from Sesame Workshop joined students and teachers at their school to learn about AI literacy, creative writing, and science. As part of the school’s Plant and Animal Relationships unit, we investigated a real-world mystery: why did no new chalta trees grow in the Bengal Tiger Reserve from 1995 to 2015? What do chalta trees need to grow? And what is the connection between chalta fruit, elephants, and poop?
During the program, students dove deep into how plants depend on animals in their habitats, assuming the role of plant scientists reporting to the lead scientist at the Bengal Tiger Reserve. Motivated to figure out the cause of this real-world mystery, students investigated the problem, and then pursued a chain of reasoning that took them from considering how plants get what they need to grow to understanding how seeds depend on animals for dispersal. Students use their newfound understanding to try to get to the bottom of the mystery!
While working to solve it with The GIANT Room team, students created their own collectible animal trading cards using generative AI, wrote mystery clues, and worked together to come up with what their area of the forest looked like using block-based prompt engineering.
We want to thank the school and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center for their partnership, and to the Robin Hood Foundation for funding the program and making this publication possible.
Your creative collaborators, The GIANT Room
HOW THIS BOOK IS MADE
Co-designed and co-written by 19 students and a multidisciplinary team of artists, educators, and writers at The GIANT Room, A GIANT Science Mystery: The Adventures of 19 Prompt Engineers and Animal Detectives showcases students’ science, storytelling, and AI literacy achievements and invites their friends and family to celebrate, reflect, and learn about their creations!
Students engineered the animal avatars you see throughout the book by building, drawing and writing about an animal that lives in the Bengal Tiger Reserve, giving it a name, and sharing about its traits. Using The GIANT Remix app, we then generated prototypes of their animal avatars and went through multiple rounds of feedback to finalize their animal cards. You’ll find the exact AI prompts we used in the section, “Meet the Animals.”
Their science teacher and Maru, from The GIANT Room team, also joined in and created their own AI avatars. These avatars act as the curious leaders of the science detectives and guide us closer and closer to solving the mystery!
Students used block-based prompt engineering to generate what they envisioned their forest to look like. In groups, they added nouns, adjectives, qualifiers, quantifiers, connectors and more to build a text prompt, telling AI exactly what they wanted it to generate. These images were used as the background settings for students’ comic scenes, where students wrote key mystery facts and clues said by their animal avatars.
Why AI? The GIANT Room’s mission is to elevate kids’ voices and provide them with opportunities to publish and share with friends and family. AI is a powerful tool they can use in their creative journey, and along the way they can gain AI and media literacy skills that are incredibly valuable for their future. The GIANT Room introduces students to these tools in a responsible way, always with a human in the loop.
ACERCA DE ESTE LIBRO
Durantecuatrosemanas,TheGIANTRoomyJoanGanzCooney CenterdeSesameWorkshopvisitaronunaescuelaparaaprender junto con sus alumnos y maestros sobre la alfabetización de Inteligencia Artificial, la Narración de Historias y la Ciencia. UtilizandoelcurrículumdeclaseenfocadoenLaRelaciónentre PlantasyAnimales,seinvestigóunmisteriodelavidareal:¿Por quénocrecieronnuevosárbolesdechaltaenlaReservadelTigre deBengaladesde1995hasta2015?¿Quénecesitaelárbol chaltaparacrecer?¿Cualeslaconexiónentrelafrutadelárbol chalta,loselefantes,ysusexcrementos?
En las sesiones, los estudiantes investigaron sobre cómo las plantasdependendeloshábitatsdelosanimalesparasobrevivir. Losestudiantesasumieronelroldecientíficosbotánicospara poder apoyar al científico principal de la Reserva del Tigre Bengala. Motivados por descubrir el misterio, los estudiantes investigaronelproblemayaprendieronmássobrelarelación entreplantasyanimales;desdecomolasplantasobtienenloque necesitan para crecer, hasta como las semillas dependen de animalesparasudispersión.¡Losestudiantesutilizaronloque aprendieronparapoderresolverelmisterio!
Mientraslosestudiantesaprendíansobreelmisterio,elequipode The GIANT Room les ayudó a crear sus propias tarjetas de colección utilizando Inteligencia Artificial (IA) generativa. Tambiénaescribirpistasenfocándoseenelmisterio,ytrabajar enequipoyutilizando“promptengineering”parageneraruna imagendeunbosquedondehayárboleschalta.
QueremosagradeceralaescuelayaJoanGanzCooneyCenter porsucolaboración,yaRobinHoodFoundationporfinanciarel programayhacerposibleestapublicación.
Tuscolaboradorescreativos, TheGIANTRoom
CÓMO SE HIZO ESTE LIBRO
Estelibrofueco-diseñadoyco-escritopor19estudiantesyun equipomultidisciplinariodeartistas,educadores,yescritoresde The GIANT Room. Este libro A GIANT Science Mystery: The Adventuresof19PromptEngineersandAnimalDetectives muestra elincreíbletrabajocientífico,denarracióndehistorias,yde alfabetización de IA que hicieron los estudiantes. ¡Al mismo tiempo,invitandoasusamigosyfamiliaresacelebrar,reflexionar yaprendersobresucreación!
Losestudiantescrearonavataresbasadosenanimalesreales(y sus características) que habitan en la Reserva del Tigre de Bengala, a través de dibujos y descripciones. Luego, estos dibujosydescripcionesfueronanalizadosporlaaplicaciónde inteligenciaartificial(IA)deTheGIANTRoom,ysegeneraron prototiposdesusavatares.Estosprototipospasaronpormúltiples rondasderetroalimentaciónporpartedelosestudiantes,hasta que estuvieron listos para formar parte de sus tarjetas de coleccióndeanimales/avatares.Podrásverlasdescripcioneso "prompts"exactosqueseusaronconlaappdeIAparagenerar losavataresenlasección“MeettheAnimals”.
La maestra del salón y una de The GIANT Room también participaron y crearon sus propios avatares usando IA. Sus avatarestomanelroldelíderescientíficosdentrodellibroynos guíanenelprocesoderesolverelmisterio.
Losestudiantesutilizaron“block-basedpromptengineering”para generarlaimagendesubosque.Ensusequipos,ellosañadieron sustantivos,adjetivos,cualitativos,cuantitativos,conectoresymás para crear su “prompt” escrito, para la herramienta de InteligenciaArtificial.Lasimágenesgeneradasseusaroncomo fondodesunovelagráfica,endondecompartendatosclavesdel misterio.
¿PorquéIA? LamisióndeTheGIANTRoomeselevarlavozde los niños y proporcionarles la oportunidad de publicar y compartirsuscreacionesconamigosyfamiliares.LaIAesuna herramientapoderosaquepuedenusarensuviajecreativo,ya lo largo del proceso, pueden adquirir habilidades de alfabetizaciónenIAymediosquesonincreíblementevaliosas parasufuturo.TheGIANTRoomintroducealosestudiantesa usar herramientas de manera responsable, siempre con un humanopresente.
you’reThankgoodnesshere!Wehavea SERIOUSmysteryonour hands,andweneed yourhelptosolveit!
It all started on the aBengalTigerReserve, placewherescientists studyanimals andplants.
TheBengalTigerReserve islocatedinabroadleaf forestinIndia.
For20years,nonew growingchaltatreeswereonthereserve.
Scientistsaretryingto happeningunderstandwhythisis andwhocould bebehindthismystery...
Scientists think it may have to do with the animals that live in the forest --
Wait, which animals live there?
Greatquestion!Let’s Maybemeetthemall!theycangiveussomeclues...
MEET THE MEET THE A ANNIIMMAALLS S
AI-generated avatar based on the student’s submission
The animal’s traits
The animal’s personality
The animal’s name
How this animal spreads seeds*
artworkOriginalby a GIANT participant
*KEY: HOW OUR ANIMALS SPREAD SEEDS
This animal can spread spikey seeds through their fur.
This animal spreads seeds by burying them or digging in the ground.
This animal spreads seeds by eating fruit with seeds and then pooping them out.
This animal doesn’t spread any seeds.
TEACHER
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A bright red panda with a large, fluffy tail and white ears, showcasing long, sharp claws and elongated pointy teeth, climbing trees in a lush forest filled with bamboo and vibrant greenery. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
MS.
MARU
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A strong, silly tiger with a friendly face, standing in a forest surrounded by chalta trees. Fluffy furry texture. Full body. 3D illustration, Kawaii style.
Author’s signature
JORDANA
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A tiny, red-furred dog with a rounded face and playful, silly eyes, munching on a fish; set in a lively, sunlit forest filled with green leaves and wildflowers. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 44
EMMA
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A happy butterfly with blue, soft-textured wings, a small brown body, floating gently through the air, amidst a vivid sunny forest with dappled light filtering through the trees. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 34
Author’s signature
Author’s signature
MAYAR
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A cute red panda with vibrant red fur and playful expression, showing its sharp claws, stands near a brown tree and a pink flower, munching on bamboo under a blue sky and yellow sun. The background is a lively forest scene, full of trees and scattered flowers. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
SOFIA
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A sparkly orange butterfly with black polka-dotted wings, exuding a serious demeanor, flanked by two vibrant red hearts; set against a sunny forest clearing with lush green trees. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
Author’s signature PAGE 54 PAGE 34
DIDIER
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A large, gray rhino with a sharp, big horn and giant feet, featuring large ears and sharp claws, moving fast and swimming slowly, its expression angry; the background should be a lush jungle with dense trees and vibrant greenery. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 66
CHLOE
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A happy red panda with black and red fur, adorned with a long, bushy tail, playfully stands on lush green and brown grass, framed by a clear blue sky. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 54
Author’s signature
Author’s signature
JAIME
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A cute, medium-sized black cat with soft fur and pointy ears, walking gracefully with a long tail; the background is a vibrant, lush jungle filled with colorful foliage. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
GRACE
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A large, beautiful green crocodile with black eyes, slowmoving, adorned with purple spikes along its back, and a kind and lovely demeanor, seen enjoying a delicious fish; set against a lush, vibrant forest full of tall trees and colorful foliage. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
PAGE 54 PAGE 44
MATTHEW
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A purple crocodile with darker purple spikes, cool and scary with a green eye, swimming through clear jungle waters, surrounded by vivid tropical foliage. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 44
IAN
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A small, rainbow turtle with a cute face and detailed shell pattern swims gracefully underwater, surrounded by vibrant coral reefs and colorful fish. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 66
Author’s signature
Author’s signature
AUISKAR
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A red and orange panda-like creature with black eyes, medium size, furry with sharp claws, stands adorably next to pencil-like trees, exuding a kind, shy, and silly vibe; surrounded by a bamboo forest with colorful wildflowers. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature PAGE 54
BIANCA
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A giant, happy butterfly with enormous pink shiny wings, purple markings, and a bright red body, surrounded by playful red hearts; the butterfly's environment is a vivid, sunlit meadow filled with vibrant wildflowers. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
PAGE 34
FREDDY
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A large, cool blue panda with black ears and eyes, a red nose, and outstretched arms, covered in soft blue fur, looking slightly intimidating yet friendly, standing amidst lush green bamboo jungle, vivid and full of life. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
PAGE 54 PAGE 66
THOMAS
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A small, red and orange cat-like creature with round eyes, a simple face, and a silly personality, its fur has a textured look; the background is a vibrant, lush forest with tall trees and dappled sunlight. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
YOSMARI
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A happy, pink butterfly with black spots on its wings and a smiling face, exuding kindness, fluttering gracefully. A vibrant meadow with colorful flowers and a bright blue sky as the backdrop. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
CARLOS
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A red, black, and white cat-like creature with soft fur, moving gracefully through the forest, nibbling on red plants, with a nice expression, set against a vibrant, lush jungle background filled with greenery and dappled sunlight. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
Author’s signature PAGE 34 PAGE 44
CAREN
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A kind butterfly with large, soft pink wings and long antennae, flying joyously; a sunny forest background filled with colorful flowers and dappled light. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 34
JORDY
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A happy, brown turtle with a rounded shell, small limbs, and a textured surface, hops around. The background is a lush, dense forest with sunlight filtering through the trees. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
PAGE 66
Author’s signature
Author’s signature
MARTINA
AI AVATAR PROMPT:
A small, fluffy tiger with serious demeanor, its fur decorated with soft spots, and a simple yet content face, its texture smooth and gentle; set against a vibrant forest backdrop with lush green leaves and soft sunlight peeking through. 3D illustration, Kawaii Style. Character Centred.
Author’s signature
CAREN,YOSMARI,EMMA, SOFIA,ANDBIANCA
ENGINEERED PROMPT
A sunny day at magical forest with rainbow plants, rainbow weather and five flying rainbow baby butterflies and a small baby red panda and a magic rainbow treehouse with pink trees and rainbow waterfall, with a blue sky and rainbow pool.
INITIAL PROMPT ATTEMPT
A raining magical forest with rainbow plants, rainbow weather and five flying rainbow butterflies and a rainbow panda and a magic rainbow treehouse with purple trees and rainbow waterfall, with a blue sky
FOREST SETTING BY
MARTINA,GRACE, JORDANA,MATTHEW, ANDCARLOS
ENGINEERED PROMPT
Sunny tropical forest with lots of flowers everywhere, big trees and shiny trees and a giant river with rocks beside it and rainbow over it and animals with waterfall at the end.
Apple trees, food, bushes, bamboo groves, cactus, sun in the sky.
INITIAL PROMPT ATTEMPT
Sunny tropical forest with big trees and shiny trees and a river with rocks beside it and rainbow over it and animals and a small river with waterfall at the end.
Apple trees, food, bushes, bamboo groves, flowers everywhere everywhere cactus, sun in the sky.
AUISKAR,FREDDY,CHLOE, MAYAR,ANDJAIME
ENGINEERED PROMPT
Scary, spooky forest with rainbow leaves. It is sunny and rainy at the same time. There is a huge magical red panda. There are sparkly bamboo groves, moss-covered rocks, brown trees with rainbow leaves, orange glittery crumbly candy and rocks. There is also a rainbow waterfall, white mushrooms, a gold slippery floor, rainbow water, puffy black silk tree. The grass is made of cotton candy. The sky is pink with fluffy clouds and a fuzzy big cliff.
INITIAL PROMPT ATTEMPT
Scary magical forest with rainbow leaves. It is sunny and rainy at the same time. There is a huge magical red panda. There are sparkly bamboo groves, mosscovered rocks, brown trees with rainbow leaves, orange glittery crumbly candy and rocks. There is also a rainbow waterfall, white mushrooms, a gold slippery floor, rainbow water, puffy black silk tree. The grass is made of cotton candy. The sky is pink with fluffy clouds and a fuzzy big cliff.
DIDIER,JORDY, IAN,ANDTHOMAS
ENGINEERED PROMPT
Rainbow colored rocks in a sunny magical forest with rainbow leaves and trees and a sparkly glittery waterfall with a golden path to the trees.
INITIAL PROMPT ATTEMPT
Sunny magical forest with rainbow leaves and trees and red rocks in rainbow water and golden path to the trees, 99 bamboo, berry and palm trees, flowery grass, diamond waterfall and diamond shells with dinosaur sleeping and red pandas. 3D model style.
THE THE
DISCOVER DISCOVER MYSTERY MYSTERY
CLUES CLUES
I’mjustabutterfly, thatbutdidyouknow plantsanimalscanhelp spreadtheir seeds?
WHOA! Animals can help plants spread their seeds?! COOL!
I wonder how they do it...
Icanfly.
I have big wings.
Ihave antennas.
I have black havewings.Ipink havewings.Iwhite wings.
Icanfly.
Iamorange andblack.
Icanfly.Mia haswings.
I have wings. Mia has big feet and the eyes.
Hmmmm, could all of these butterflies be stealing the chalta fruit seeds and flying away with them??
No, I don’t think so. Chalta fruit seeds are REALLY BIG! Butterflies are too small and light to carry them.
Wow,thismystery thought!istougherthanI Well,let’smorekeeplookingfor clues.What aboutthatsectionof theforestover there?
Canyoufindthese animals?
I like the fish. I live in the rivers. I am cool and
*Gulp*
You sure do look scary! You might be scaring away all of the animals from the chalta trees!
Well,
Wow,youallreallydo lovefish...Iguessyou aren’tspreadingany chalta fruit seeds.
just because these animals eat fish doesn’t mean they can’t spread chalta fruit seeds.
Animals can spread seeds with their fur. Spiky seeds stick to their fur until they fall off in a new part of the forest.
I like to play with my toys and in the forest.
Oooooh, me too, me too, me too! Can I play with you?
What?! You can’t beplaying–weare tryingtosolvea mystery! Focus! Ok, ok, fine. I’m focused! Back to the mystery...
trees.Ieatchalta favoriteThatismy food.
My chalta tree has juice in it.
My chalta trees have more than 100 seeds inside. Sometimes the seeds get in my fur and sometimes it gets out.
I
eat bamboo in the forest.
I roll around and my fur picks up chalta fruit. IrunandIpick upchaltafruit withmyfur.
I pick up seeds and bring them to other places.
Poop?!
What are they talking about?
Whenanimalseat seedsfruit,theyeatthewiththem,too!
Theseedscomeoutin thepoopandgrow intonewplants.
Wow, so these red pandas are spreading chalta fruit seeds with their fur AND their poop!
Hmmm...Redpandasdon't playabigroleinspreading chalta fruit seeds because usuallyelephantseatthe fruitbeforetheydo.
The chalta trees take years to grow until it is ready.
I like to steal seeds and bury them in the ground!
Animals that bury and hide seeds sometimes forget about them! And this actually HELPS plants to grow and spread their seeds.
I
don’t like chalta fruit. I can’t chew it.
Netoisright!He can’teatchalta treefruitbecauseit isREALLYhard!
YES!Infact,Ithink
elephantsareoneof theonlyanimalsthat canreachthefruit ANDarestrong enoughtobite throughitsshell!!
We are sooooooo close to solving this mystery. I can FEEL it!
I
move slowly.
I live under the sea.
I am rainbow.
Theyliveinthewater andsometimesgo outside.
Hmmm, I don’t know. They seem pretty cute and innocent. Plus, they move slowly! Someone would have caught them by now...
Maybe that explains it...
I
am so cute and little.
Icaneat meat.
wayyyhighupinthe tree.Soacute,little animalcouldn’tbe behindthismystery.
ground because they can’t reach it high up in the tree. So we can’t rule them out yet...
...iskickingoutallofthe elephantsfromthe forest?! Yes,thiscouldbeit!
I am resistance.
arrived!OMG!Lookwhatjust It’saletterfrom thescientistsattheBengal TigerReserve.
NOWAY!!What
It’s the solution to the mystery! Using all of the evidence and clues that we found, they figured it out!!
WITH THE CHALTA TREE MYSTERY
In 1995, the people who worked at the Bengal Tiger Reserve built a long fence.
They didn’t think that it would cause any harm.
20 years later in 2015, scientists realized that no new chalta trees were growing on the reserve.
They also realized that elephants are the ones who spread chalta fruit seeds.
chaltaElephantseatthefruitandmake forestpoopallaroundthe thethatarefullof seeds.
Theseedsinthepoopgrow intonewchaltatrees.
reserve,theelephants
A A HUMAN! HUMAN!
The End
A GIANT thank you to the teacher, the students and families, and the GIANT team members who made this publication possible.
Book Concept & Planning
Azadeh Jamalian, PhD
Rebecca Schifilliti
Maru Segovia
Rama Deshpande
Maya Hood-Wilson
Astha Sethi
Book Design & Development
GIANT Kid Collaborators
Rebecca Schifilliti
Azadeh Jamalian, PhD
Rama Deshpande
Jordana, Emma, Mayar, Sofia, Caren, Chloe, Jaime, Grace, Matthew, Ian, Auiskar, Bianca, Freddy, Thomas, Yosmari, Carlos, Didier, Jordy, and Martina
More GIANT thanks to the Robin Hood Foundation, Tech + Learning Fund for their generous support of this project, and to Joan Ganz Cooney Center from Sesame Workshop for their partnership.
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In addition, on our GIANT Remix platform, we provide opportunities for children to co-design and co-publish books and games they can read and play with their friendsandfamily.
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