Computer Science Discovery

Data and Society unit

Lesson 1 Representation Matters

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Choose the best way to represent some information based on how it will be used.

• Provide examples of how representing data in different ways can affect its ability to solve different problems.

In Chapter 1 of this unit, students learn the different representation systems that computers use to represent information. In this first lesson, students get an overview of what data is and how it is used to solve problems. Students start off with a brief discussion to come to a common understanding of data. They then split into groups and use a data set to make a series of meal recommendations for people with various criteria. 

Afterward, students compare their responses and discuss how the different representations of the data affected how the students were able to solve the different problems and see that the same objects can be represented in a number of different ways.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 01 - Representation Matters - Google Slides

Worksheet:

Activity Guide - Representation Matters - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 2 Patterns and Representation 

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Create and use a system for representing information

• Describe the necessary features of a system for representing information

In this lesson, students get to explore for themselves the qualities of a good system for representing information by creating their own system for representing information. They begin by brainstorming all the different systems they already use to represent yes-no responses and then move on to create a system that can represent any letter in the alphabet using only a single stack of cards. The cards used have one of 6 different possible drawings (6 animals, 6 colors, etc.) and so to represent the entire alphabet students will need to work with their groups to use patterns of multiple cards to represent each letter. Students create messages with their systems and exchange them with other groups to ensure the system worked as intended. In the wrap-up discussion, the class reviews the pros and cons of the different systems, discussing commonalities between working systems and recognizing that there are many possible solutions to this problem and what's important is that everyone uses the same arbitrary system to communicate.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 02 - Patterns and Representation - Google Slides

Work Sheet: L02 - Activity Guide - Representing Information - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit 

Lesson 3 ASCII and Binary representation

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Define a binary system as one that uses just two possible states to represent information

• Use the ASCII system to encode and decode text information in binary

This lesson is an opportunity to make some real-world connections from the previous lesson and review some of the concepts students saw in that activity. Students are formally introduced to the concept of binary, learn what a bit of information is, and get practice using a binary system and ASCII, a system for encoding information. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher introduces the fact that computers must represent information using either "on" or "off". Then students are introduced to the ASCII system for representing text using binary symbols. Students practice using this system before encoding their own message using ASCII. At the end of the lesson, a debrief conversation helps synthesize the key learning objectives of the activity.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 03 - ASCII and Binary Representation - Google Slides

Worksheet: Binary Code Name - Google Docs 

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 4 Representing Images

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Create and manipulate binary patterns to represent black and white images

• Describe common features of systems used to represent information in binary

In this lesson, students learn how computers represent images. To begin the lesson they consider the challenge of turning all the complexity of vision into a binary pattern. Through a series of images showing how this transformation is made, students are introduced to the concept of splitting images into squares or "pixels" which can then be turned on or off individually to make the entire image. Students then do a short set of challenges using the Pixelation Widget in order to draw black and white images. Puzzles are designed to call out some of the challenges of representing images in this way. In the wrap-up, students make connections between the system for representing images and the system for representing text they learned in the previous lesson.

Slides Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 04 - Representing Images - Google Slides

Work: code.org Lesson 4 all questions. 

Data And Society Unit

Lesson 5 representing numbers

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Extend a representation system based on patterns.

• Use a binary system to represent numbers.

In this lesson, students learn how to use the binary system to represent integers. With a set of cards that represent the place values in a binary (base-2) number system by a collection of dots, students turn bits "on" or "off" by turning cards face up and face down, then observe the numbers that result from these different patterns. Eventually, students extend the pattern to a generic 4-bit system.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 05 - Representing Numbers - Google Slides

Worksheet : L05 - Activity Guide - Representing Numbers - Google Docs

Video: How Computers Work: Binary & Data

Data and Society Unit 

Lesson 6 Combining Representations

Students will be able to:

• Determine the most appropriate encoding system for a given piece of information.

• Use multiple binary systems to decode information.

In this lesson, students use all three types of binary representation systems (ASCII characters, binary numbers, and images) to decode information in a record. After seeing a series of bits and being asked to decode them, students are introduced to the idea that in order to understand binary information, they must understand both the system that is being used and the meaning of the information encoded. They then decode a record representing a pet based on a given structure.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 06 - Combining Representations - Google Slides

Worksheet: Copy of U5L06 - Activity Guide - Pet Records - Google Docs

Students will be able to:

• Apply a method of encryption to ensure the secure transmission of data.

• Describe the reasons encryption is needed to protect personal data

As students have been encoding and decoding data, they have not been worried about securing the data that they are using even when that information has been highly personal or sensitive (such as addresses or phone numbers). In this lesson, they continue to explore how data is represented in a punchcard and begin to think about how they can ensure that only the intended recipient can read the data that they send. Once students understand the reasons for protecting data, they learn a binary encryption system that lets them encrypt and decrypt data in their punchcards, and eventually, they are able to send secret messages to one another using this method. The class concludes with a discussion on the importance of protecting our information and how encryption is one way we can accomplish this.

Slides: U5L07 Data and Society - Lesson 07 - Keeping Data Secret - Google Slides 

Students will be able to:

• Choose and justify the use of different binary representation systems depending on the information being represented

• Create a generalized representation system for many instances of a complex type of information

• Encode and decode information represented in binary numbers and ASCII text

The project serves as a cumulative project for the chapter, bringing together the different representation systems students have learned to design a structure that represents their perfect day. Students will first write a short description of their perfect day and then review with a partner to identify the key pieces of information they think a computer could capture. As a class, students will decide how a punch card of bytes of information will be interpreted to represent those pieces of information. Students will then use the ASCII, binary number, and image formats they have learned to represent their perfect days and then trade punch cards and try to decode what the other student's perfect day is like. This lesson forces students to grapple with some of the challenges of representing information in a computer since computers are good at representing some kinds of information like numbers or characters, but this forces students to represent information in ways that might not always capture the full analog experience of an object or event. 

Slides: U5L08 Data and Society - Lesson 08 - Create a Representation - Google Slides 

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 9 Problem Solving With Data

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Identify and collect relevant data to help solve a problem.

• Use data to draw conclusions.

• Use the problem solving process to answer a question using data.

In this lesson, students use the problem solving process from earlier in the course to solve a data problem. Students work in teams to collect information on the Internet to help them decide what should be built, then use this information to build an argument that will convince the city council of their choice. They then map what they have done to the problem solving process that they have been using throughout the course, comparing the general problem solving process to its specific application to data problems.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 09 - Problem Solving and Data - Google Slides

Note about worksheet. We will be using different places than those listed on the worksheet for this assignment. 

Worksheet:  Copy of U5L09 - Activity Guide - Solving a Data Problem - Google Docs  

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 10 Structuring Data

In this lesson, students go further into the collection and interpretation of data, including cleaning and visualizing data. Students first look at how presenting data in different ways can help people to understand it better, and they then create visualizations of their own data. Using the results of a preferred pizza topping survey, students must decide what to do with data that does not easily fit into the visualization scheme that they have chosen. Finally, students discuss which parts of this process can be automated by a computer and which need a human to make decisions.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 10 - Structuring Data - Google Slides

Worksheet: Copy of U5L10 - Activity Guide - Structuring Data - Google Docs 

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 11 Interpreting Data

Students begin the lesson by looking at a cake preference survey that allows respondents to specify both a cake and an icing flavor. They discuss how knowing the relationship between cake and icing preference helps them better decide which combination to recommend. They are then introduced to cross-tabulation, which allows them to graph relationships to different preferences. They use this technique to find relationships in a preference survey, then brainstorm the different types of problems that this process could help solve.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 11 - Interpreting Data - Google Slides

Work sheet.  Copy of U5L11 - Activity Guide - Interpreting Data - Google Docs

Copy of U5L11 - Resource - Interpreting Data 2021 - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 12 Making Decisions with Data

In this lesson, students get to practice making decisions with data based on problems designed to be familiar to middle school students. Students work in groups discussing how they would use the data presented to make a decision before the class discusses their final choices. Not all questions have "right answers" and in some cases, students can and should decide that they should collect more data. The lesson concludes with a discussion of how different people could draw different conclusions from the same data, or how collecting different data might have affected the decisions they made.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 12 - Making Decisions with Data - Google Slides

Worksheet: Copy of U5L12 - Activity Guide - Making Decisions with Data - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 13  Automating Data Decisions

In this lesson, students look at a simple example of how a computer could be used to complete the decision-making step of the data problem-solving process if it's given an algorithm. Students are given the task of creating an algorithm that could suggest a vacation spot. Students then create rules that a computer could use to make this decision automatically. Students share their rules and what choices their rules would make with the class data. They then use their rules on data from their classmates to test whether their rules would make the same decision that a person would. The lesson concludes with a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of using computers to automate the data problem-solving process.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 13 - Automating Data Decisions - Google Slides

Worksheets: Copy of U5L13 - Activity Guide - Automating Data Decisions - Google Docs

Copy of U5L13 - Resource - Automating Data Decisions - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 14 Problem Solving with Big Data

In this lesson, students look at how data is collected and used by organizations to solve problems in the real world as well as also provide students an opportunity to reflect on the fact that in their own lives, they are intentionally and unintentionally producing data that companies collect and use. Students are presented with three scenarios that could be solved using data and brainstorm the types of data they would need and how they could collect the data. Each problem is designed to reflect a real-world service that exists. After brainstorming, students watch a video about a real-world service and record notes about what data is collected by the real-world service and how it is used. At the end of the lesson, students record whether data was provided actively by a user, was recorded passively, or collected by sensors.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 14 - Problem Solving with Big Data - Google Slides

Work sheet: Copy of U5L14 - Activity Guide - Data in the Real World - Google Docs

Data and Society Unit

Lesson 15 Data and Machine Learning

In previous lessons, students have seen how we can use data to make decisions. We've also seen that data can be collected about us constantly, leading to a larger amount of data to analyze - more than a human can handle! In this lesson, students are introduced to the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning using the AI for Oceans widget. First students classify objects as either "fish" or "not fish" to attempt to remove trash from the ocean. Then, students will need to expand their training data set to include other sea creatures that belong in the water. In the second part of the activity, students will choose their own labels to apply to images of randomly generated fish. This training data is used for a machine-learning model that should then be able to label new images on its own.

Slides: Copy of CSD Data and Society - Lesson 15 - Data and Machine Learning - Google Slides

Worksheet: code.org