Tools available when chatting with Sparky

Sparky can create formatted documents including essays, reports, lesson plans, and study guides. Documents are displayed with rich formatting and can be downloaded or copied.

Example prompt: "Create a study guide for the American Revolution that covers the causes, key events, and outcomes."

Sparky can write and run code in multiple programming languages. Code snippets appear with syntax highlighting and can be executed directly in the chat to see results.

Example prompt: "I am creating a hook for a lesson. Write a Python function that calculates the area of a circle given the radius, then run it with a radius of 5."

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Sparky can create blank whiteboards for collaborative brainstorming, sketching, or visual note-taking. You and your students can draw and annotate on whiteboards together.

Example prompt: "Create a blank whiteboard for our class brainstorming session on renewable energy sources."

Sparky uses a built-in calculator to perform mathematical operations accurately, from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus and statistics.

Example prompt: "I am creating a study guide for my class. Calculate the derivative of x³ + 2x² - 5x + 7 and show each step using formatted equations."

When creating documents, Sparky can render mathematical equations using proper notation and professional formatting.

Example prompt: "Create a document that contains 5 practice problems that ask students to use factoring to find the roots of a quadratic equation. Each question's solution should have one or two integer roots."

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Sparky can create charts, graphs, diagrams, and data visualizations using Python. Visualizations are mathematically accurate and great for plotting functions, geometry diagrams, timelines, or any visual where exact values matter.

Example prompt: "Graph the function y = x² from -5 to 5 and label the vertex."

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Sparky can generate AI illustrations and visual content. Images are created based on your description and can help explain concepts visually.

Example prompt: "Draw an illustration of the water cycle showing evaporation, condensation, and precipitation."

Sparky can generate short educational videos with narration. Videos are great for explaining concepts, processes, or step-by-step instructions.

Example prompt: "Create a short video explaining how photosynthesis works in plants."

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Sparky can generate presentation slides that you can download as PowerPoint files. Slides include themed layouts suitable for classroom presentations.

Example prompt: "Create a 5-slide presentation about the solar system for my 4th grade science class."

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Sparky can search the web to find up-to-date information on any topic. Search results are used to provide accurate, current answers to your questions.

Example prompt: "Search for the latest research on effective reading comprehension strategies for middle school students."

When Sparky uses information from web searches, it automatically adds citations so you can verify the sources. Citations appear as clickable links in the chat.

Example prompt: "Find information about the causes of the French Revolution and cite your sources."

Sparky can search and read Flint's help center to answer questions about how to use the platform. This helps you get quick answers about Flint features.

Example prompt: "How do I create an activity in Flint?"

Find more articles in the Flint help center

Sparky can analyze images you upload, including photos, diagrams, screenshots, and student work. Use this to get feedback on visual content or to have Sparky describe what it sees.

Example prompt: "Look at this student's diagram of a plant cell and tell me if all the organelles are labeled correctly."

When chatting in a standalone chat (not within an activity), Sparky can suggest creating an activity based on your conversation. This helps you quickly turn lesson ideas into structured activities for your students.

Note: The "Start Activity Builder" button - it allows teachers to turn a chat conversation into a structured activity for students.

Example prompt: "I want to create an activity where students practice writing persuasive essays about environmental issues."

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