Introducing this Spark
This Spark is designed to help athletic coaching students practice and demonstrate their ability to navigate conversations about food logging with youth athletes. It addresses the instructional challenge of having students articulate informed, research-backed positions on adolescent nutrition tracking while maintaining professional scope of practice.
Learning Outcome
After completing this Spark, students will be able to analyze research pertaining to food logging/journaling and connect the practice to potential benefits and risks related to adolescent nutrition and athletic performance.
Featured AI Tools
Featured Skills
Implementation Guide for Instructors
The information below is provided to help instructors implement this AI Spark learning activity in other courses. It includes technical instructions for setting up the activity, a strategy for assessing student learning, and additional resources to help with AI tool configuration.
This AI Spark pairs a curated Gemini Notebook source library with a custom Google Gem acting as an expert registered sports dietitian (RD). Students explore instructor-provided research and multimedia (audio overviews, articles), take an affirmative or negative stance on mandatory food logging for athletes under 18, and debate the AI counterpart. The Gem dynamically assumes the opposing position for a three-turn exchange; evaluates the student's scope of practice, coaching application, and evidence synthesis; and generates a structured Diagnostic Feedback Report.
Gemini Notebook Setup: Populate a Gemini Notebook with curated sports nutrition research and audio overviews on youth athlete fueling to serve as the student prep space.
Gem Configuration: Create a new Gem in Gemini (using an FSU institutional account) named "Youth Athlete Food Logging Debate Gem". Paste the system prompt provided in the Resources tab.
Canvas Discussion/Assignment Setup: Create a Canvas discussion requiring students to:
- Prepare arguments using the curated Gemini Notebook.
- Launch the Gem, declare a stance (affirmative or negative), and complete 3 turn-by-turn debate exchanges.
- Prompt the Gem for the Diagnostic Feedback Report and save the full chat transcript.
- Post their transcript, feedback report, and a 150-200 word reflection addressing key pivot points and coaching takeaways to the discussion board, followed by peer replies
Student learning is assessed through the Canvas discussion thread where students submit their full Gem debate transcript, the AI Diagnostic Feedback Report, and a written reflection (150-200 words). The instructor evaluates their ability to analyze and apply research during the debate, integrate sports-science concepts (e.g., REDs, scope of practice), and reflect critically on feedback from the AI dietitian.
Shared Gemini Gem Link: Fa26 Coaching Theory: Food Log Debate
Key Behavioral Constraints: The Gem is constrained to act as a single opposing debater that adopts the exact opposite stance of the student. It limits each response to under 200 words to maintain a conversational cadence and transitions immediately to a formal evaluation after three turns or upon receiving the trigger phrase "End Debate".
This Spark utilizes a shared Gemini Notebook. Due to technical constraints with sharing and copyright, links to shared Notebooks are not provided.
# Role and Identity
You are an expert registered sports dietitian (RD) specializing in adolescent elite athletes. Your role is to act as a single opposing debater in a turn-by-turn asynchronous debate for graduate-level sports coaching and strength and conditioning students. Your tone is supportive, constructive, and mentoring, yet you maintain high academic standards. You challenge logical fallacies, scope-of-practice boundaries, and application gaps gently but directly.
# The Debate Topic
Prompt: "Resolved: Sports coaches and strength and conditioning staff should mandate daily food and calorie logging for competitive athletes under the age of 18."
# Behavioral Guidelines & Interaction Flow
1. Initiation: Start by welcoming the student. Ask them to state which side they are representing (Affirmative: Supporting mandatory logging, or Negative: Opposing mandatory logging).
2. Flow: Wait for the student to state their side. Once they choose, you must immediately adopt the exact opposite position.
3. Turn-by-Turn Execution: Debate the student one point at a time. Do not post long walls of text. Keep your turn responses under 200 words to maintain a conversational cadence. Focus on one core concept per turn (e.g., REDs, eating disorder pathology, scope of practice, or team culture).
4. Prompting Next Turns: At the end of your turn, ask a punchy question that pushes the student to provide evidence or practical coaching solutions.
5. Conclusion Trigger: Explicitly tell the student they have up to 3 turns each. When the 3 turns are complete, or if the student says "End Debate" or "Wrap Up", transition immediately to the Diagnostic Feedback Report.
# Core Knowledge Anchors
When debating or analyzing the student, anchor your logic in these graduate-level sports science concepts:
- Scope of Practice: Coaches are trained in exercise prescription, not medical nutrition therapy.
- Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs): The physiological risks of under-fueling (bone density loss, endocrine disruption) versus the psychological risks of hyper-tracking.
- Adolescent Psychology: The vulnerability of under-18 populations to clinical disordered eating (orthorexia, anorexia) and identity fusion.
- Screeners: Alternative qualitative methods like the LEAF-Q or REDS CAT tools.
# Diagnostic Feedback Report Format
When the debate ends, step out of character and provide a supportive evaluation formatted exactly as follows:
### DEBATE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
* **Scope of Practice & Ethics:** [Provide 2-3 sentences evaluating if the student respected legal/professional boundaries or if they suggested overstepping coaching limits regarding nutrition prescription].
* **Coaching Application:** [Provide 2-3 sentences analyzing how realistic and practical their arguments were for a real-world locker room or weight room setting].
* **Evidence Synthesis:** [Provide 2-3 sentences on their use of objective data, sports-science theory, or screening frameworks].
**Mentor's Takeaway for Your Coaching Practice:**
[Provide a closing 2-sentence piece of encouraging advice on how they can apply this specific balance of performance and safety to their actual sports programs].
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Instructions for Students
In addition to helping students understand the purpose of this AI-based learning activity, the information below provides step-by-step instructions for completing the assignment and includes a micro training on how to use the featured AI tool(s).
In this activity, you will test your coaching communication, ethical boundaries, and nutrition knowledge against an AI-driven registered sports dietitian Gem. You will use a pre-loaded Gemini Notebook to research the evidence on mandatory food and calorie tracking for athletes under 18, choose a side, and step into a live, turn-by-turn debate. The Gem will adopt the opposing viewpoint, challenge your logic, and deliver a personalized Diagnostic Feedback Report evaluating your readiness for real-world coaching conversations.
Step 1. Prepare in Gemini Notebook: Review the resources in the provided Gemini Notebook and listen to the "Should teens log their food" audio overview (podcast) in the Studio tab. Use the Notebook to explore research, ask clarifying questions, and outline your arguments prior to starting the live debate.
Step 2. Choose Your Stance: Decide whether you will take the Affirmative (supporting mandatory food/calorie logging for athletes under 18) or Negative (opposing mandatory logging) position.
Step 3. Launch the Gem & Debate: Open the Gem link using your FSU email account. State your chosen stance. Engage in a turn-by-turn debate (three turns total) where the AI adopts the opposing viewpoint and challenges your logic, scope of practice, and evidence. Treat the Gem as a professional colleague in an athletic department meeting: keep your responses concise, practical, and grounded in sports-science evidence.
Step 4. Trigger Diagnostic Feedback: Conclude the debate by typing "End Debate" or "Wrap Up" to generate your Diagnostic Feedback Report. Copy/download both your full conversation transcript and the feedback report.
Step 5. Reflect & Post to Canvas Discussion: Submit a discussion post containing your transcript, feedback report, and responses to the following reflection prompts (150-200 words):
- Pivot Point: Where in the debate was your stance confirmed or changed, and why?
- Feedback Reflection: What piece of feedback struck you most, and how will you use it?
- Overall Takeaways: What does this mean for your coaching practice moving forward (So what? Now what?)?
Step 6. Peer Interaction: Reply to at least two classmates' discussion posts to further the conversation or constructively challenge their arguments.
What is a Gem? A Gem is a version of Google's Gemini AI chat that your instructor has preloaded with instructions. There’s nothing to set up — open the link and reply to its questions like a text conversation. Read more about Google Gems.
- Sign in. Open the Gem link and sign in with your Google account. If you see "You don't have access," you're likely signed in with the wrong account — sign out and try again.
- Send a message. Click the box at the bottom ("Ask Gemini"), type Begin Session, and press Enter. Replies appear above the box; wait for the reply to finish before responding.
- Reply in the same chat. The Gem remembers the whole conversation. Don't click "New chat", which will start the session over.
- Lost the page? Go to gemini.google.com → open the sidebar (☰) → Recent → click the conversation to continue where you left off.
- Copy the output. Hover over the top-right corner of the gray text box and click the Copy icon, then paste with Ctrl + V (Win) / Cmd + V (Mac).
- Good to know. Type text, rather than use voice (Gems don't work with Gemini Live). Don't enter passwords or sensitive personal information. Keep in mind that the Gem may ask you to expand a short answer.
- Access via FSU. Always access the tool via your FSU institutional account; personal accounts will default to an unconfigured model that produces generic, overly harsh, or ungrounded responses.
What is Gemini Notebook? Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is an AI study tool from Google that works only from the files you give it. Upload your course materials, then ask questions or generate study aids; every answer is drawn from your sources, with citations. Read more about Gemini Notebook.
- Sign in. Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with your FSU Google account.
- Create a notebook. Click “Create new notebook”, then upload your first source. Click the notebook title at the top to rename it.
- Add sources. In the left Sources panel, click + Add. You can upload PDFs, Google Docs/Slides, paste a website link, or add a YouTube video. Uploaded sources appear in the list with a checkbox – leave them checked so Notebook uses them.
- Know the three panels. Left = Sources (your files). Middle = Chat (ask questions; answers include numbered citations you can click to see the original passage). Right = Studio (one-click study aids).
- Generate a study aid. In Studio, click a tile such as Flashcards, Quiz, Mind Map, Infographic, Report, Slide Deck, or Audio Overview. Generation takes a few seconds to a few minutes; the finished item appears in the Studio list.
- How to play an Audio Overview:
- Locate the Notebook guide: Look at the top-right corner of your screen for the Notebook guide panel. If it isn't visible, click the Notebook guide button in the upper right to open it.
- Find the Audio Overview tile: Inside the Notebook guide panel, locate the section labeled Audio Overview. If one has already been generated, you will see an audio player card displaying a title and playback duration.
- Press Play: Click the circular Play button on the audio card.
- Use playback controls: Once playing, a player bar appears where you can pause, skip backward or forward 15 seconds, adjust volume, or change the playback speed (e.g., 1.25x or 1.5x). You can also click the three-dot menu on the card to download the audio file to your device.
- Customize or revise. Before generating, click the pencil icon on a tile to describe what you want (e.g., "focus on chapters 3-4, harder questions"). To revise something already made, type the change in Chat or regenerate with a new prompt.
- Good to know. Upload only course materials and reliable sources – Notebook is only as accurate as what you give it. Your notebooks save automatically and stay in your account. Take screenshots with Win + Shift + S (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + 4 (Mac).