Unit 2 - DIGITAL INFORMATION

Lesson 07 - Rapid Research - Format Showdown

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Identify reliable sources of information when doing research
  • Synthesize information taken from multiple online sources
  • Create an artifact (video, image, slide, poster, etc.) to communicate information about a computing topic.

Lesson 06 - RUN LENGTH ENCODING & HUFFMAN CODING

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • See some lossless algorithms in action and their usage.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

Lesson 05 - Lossy vs. Lossless Compression

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Explain the difference between lossy and lossless compression.
  • Explain the relative benefits or drawbacks of different file formats, particularly in terms of how they compress information.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES

VOCABULARY

  • Lossless Compression - a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.
  • Lossy Compression - (or irreversible compression) a data compression method that uses inexact approximations, discarding some data to represent the content. Most commonly seen in image formats like .jpg.

Lesson 04 - Encoding COLOR Images

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Use the Pixelation Tool to encode small color images with varying bits-per-pixel settings.
  • Explain the color encoding scheme for digital images.
  • Use the Pixelation Tool to encode an image of the student’s design.

VIDEO

Notes

Supplementary Resources

VOCABULARY

  • Hexadecimal - A base-16 number system that uses sixteen distinct symbols 0-9 and A-F to represent numbers from 0 to 15.
  • Pixel - short for "picture element", the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot that contains a single point of color of a larger image.
  • RGB - the RGB color model uses varying intensities of (R)ed, (G)reen, and (B)lue light are added together in to reproduce a broad array of colors.

Lesson 03 - Encoding B&W Images

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Explain how images are encoded with pixel data.
  • Describe a pixel as an element of a digital image.
  • Encode a B&W image in binary representing both the pixel data (intensity) and metadata (width, height).
  • Create the necessary metadata to represent the width and height of a digital image, using a computational tool.

Lecture

Notes

Supplementary Resources

VOCABULARY

  • Image - A type of data used for graphics or pictures.
  • metadata - is data that describes other data. For example, a digital image my include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or resolution.
  • Pixel - short for "picture element", the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot that contains a single point of color of a larger image.

Lesson 02 - TEXT COMPRESSION

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Collaborate with a peer to find a solution to a text compression problem using the Text Compression Widget (lossless compression scheme).
  • Explain why the optimal amount of compression is impossible or “hard” to identify.
  • Develop a strategy (heuristic algorithm) for compressing text.
  • Describe the purpose and rationale for lossless compression.

VIDEOS

Vocabulary

  • Heuristic - a problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible.
  • Lossless Compression - a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Text Compression Widget

Lesson 01 - MEMORY: Bytes and File Sizes

LESSON MATERIALS (YOU CAN ACCESS ONLY VIA @BERGEN.ORG ACCOUNT)

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Use appropriate terminology when describing the size of digital files.
  • Identify and compare the size of familiar digital media.
  • Solve small word problems that require reasoning about file sizes.

Lecture

Notes

VIDEOS

Additional Resources for you to Explore

HDD vs SSD - What is the difference?