Objective:

Students will model the spread of Enlightenment ideas using human networks, simulating the role of protocols in transmitting information securely and efficiently.

Materials Needed:

• Index cards with key Enlightenment ideas

• Cards representing different "protocols" for sending information (e.g., fastest path, secure transmission)

• Simple encryption ciphers for encoding and decoding messages

Steps:

• Introduction: 

  • Begin by discussing how ideas during the Enlightenment spread through Europe and the American colonies, emphasizing the importance of communication. 

  • Introduce the concept of communication protocols in digital networks and explain how they mirror the efficient spread of information.

• Group Activity: 

  • Assign each group a set of Enlightenment thinkers and their ideas. 

  • The goal is to pass these ideas along the "human network" in the class while ensuring the message reaches the recipient without errors, using protocols similar to how the Internet ensures accurate data transmission.

• Transmission Protocol Simulation: 

  • Introduce "protocol cards" that dictate the method by which the ideas must be transmitted (e.g., fastest route, secure encryption). 

  • Some groups will simulate message loss and need to troubleshoot how to ensure information arrives accurately, teaching students how protocols prevent errors.

• Message Encryption: 

  • To model secure transmission, students will use simple ciphers to encode Enlightenment ideas on their cards and exchange them with other groups, who must decode the message to access the information.

• Reflection: 

  • After completing the simulation, students will reflect on how these processes relate to both historical communication methods (e.g., letters, pamphlets) and modern digital networks.

Equity and Access:

Provide differentiated cipher keys for encoding messages at various complexity levels, ensuring all students can engage with the content.

Real-World Application:

Relate the lesson to modern-day data transmission over the Internet, discussing how encryption protects personal information in online communication, just as thinkers protected revolutionary ideas from government censorship.

CS Practice(s):

• Developing and Using Abstractions: Students simulate communication protocols in transmitting data across networks.

Standard(s):

• CA HSS 7.11.5

• CA CS 6-8.NI.5

• CA CS 6-8.NI.6

Objective:

Students will use Scratch, App Lab, or another coding platform allowing for conditionals to create a digital map that models the spread of Enlightenment ideas, simulating how protocols ensure efficient and secure data transmission in modern networks.

Materials Needed:

• Computers or tablets 

• Research materials on Enlightenment thinkers and their ideas

Steps:

• Introduction: 

  • Discuss how Enlightenment ideas spread through Europe and the American colonies, and how modern technology spreads information through networks. 

  • Explain the concept of communication protocols, which ensure that data follows specific paths to avoid errors.

• Coding Activity: 

  • Students use a coding platform to create an interactive map, where clicking on various locations triggers information about Enlightenment thinkers and their ideas. 

  • Students add "broadcast" and "receive" blocks to simulate the flow of information across the map.

• Simulating Data Transmission: 

  • Students program the routes between locations (e.g., Locke’s ideas traveling from England to the American colonies) and experiment with introducing transmission errors (e.g., missing or garbled information). 

  • They use conditionals to create error-checking processes that mimic how data transmission protocols prevent and correct mistakes.

• Testing and Refining: 

  • Students test their interactive maps, ensuring that information is transmitted correctly across the map and that errors are handled effectively by their code. 

  • They will iterate to refine the user experience.

• Presentation: 

  • Students present their digital maps to the class, explaining how their code models the transmission of information across networks and how they handled transmission errors, relating it back to both historical and modern contexts.

Equity and Access:

Provide pre-made templates and coding blocks to support students with varying levels of coding experience. Offer paired programming to encourage collaboration and peer support.

Real-World Application:

Relate this lesson to modern communication networks and cybersecurity, discussing how similar protocols ensure the secure and reliable transmission of information in everyday technologies, such as emails, online messaging, and video conferencing.

CS Practice(s):

• Creating Computational Artifacts: Students create a digital map to simulate how information spreads, using control structures and conditionals to model the flow of data.

• Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts: Students debug and refine their code to ensure that errors in information transmission are detected and corrected.

Standard(s):

• CA HSS 7.11.5

• CA CS 6-8.NI.5

• CA CS 6-8.NI.6

• CA CS 6-8.AP.12