Implementation
Recommender System for Cartoons
How do YouTube, TikTok, and similar platforms guess which videos we’ll enjoy? How do social networks recommend posts and help us connect with friends? How do online stores know which products to show each visitor?
In this activity, students explore how recommender systems work behind the scenes. The topic connects directly to their own lives: younger children pick their favorite cartoons, while older students reflect on the series they enjoy most.
Relevance to everyday life
Recommender systems are everywhere, so it is vital to understand their mechanics — how they can benefit us, but also how they can mislead us and trap us in "bubbles."
Connection with the curriculum
The lesson has a mathematical background. The youngest students will do a bit of counting, older ones will recognize concepts like sets (intersections, unions), and the oldest students can be introduced to similarity graphs—something like sociograms (“taste-ograms”) that they construct.