Description: In this project, we used our decrypt and decrypt10 code to find clues for the missing cow. The code helped us find secret messages from scrambled letters so we could find the cow for a prize. 

Procedure: First, we watched a video that taught us the concept of Caesar Cipher. Then we learned how to code a cipher encryption code with one key.  We also learned to make the list infinite by looping back to the beginning of the list (of letters) using the modulus 26. After, we made a decryption function by subtracting the key instead of adding. Then we made the Caesar Cipher code more difficult to decrypt by giving each character a different key. We did this by taking a string of numbers and separating each number by putting them into a list with commas. We also used the len() function to make the key not go over the list length. Next, we made a decryption code for it. Finally, we were asked to find the missing cow using 5 encrypted messages as clues. We used the previous function to decrypt the messages by trying out all the possibilities using a for loop. 

Clue 1: Hmaly zllpun aol ovvm wypuaz vu aol mvvaihss mplsk, Tz. Ayhu ruvdz oly jvd ohz nvul tpzzpun! Zol pz whupjrpun! Jhu fvb olsw nla aol jvd ihjr?

Clue 1: After seeing the hoof prints on the football field, Ms. Tran knows her cow has gone missing! She is panicking! Can you help get the cow back?

Derived: Ms. Tran's cow is missing, and she needs to find it. 

Clue 2: The zhpk aoha dolu ol dhz kyvwwlk vmm aopz tvyupun, ol zhd aol jvd dpao zvtl QO rpkz lhapun tpua jhukf ulhy aol Jbl Xbhk.

Clue 2: Max said that when he was dropped off this morning, he saw the cow with some JH kids eating mint candy near the Cue Quad.

Derived: The cow must have been near the office, because he could have gotten mint candy from there.  

Clue 3: Awumwvm umvbqwvml ammqvo Ua. Sqvo nqtt bpm jwet eqbp uqvb kivlqma bpqa uwzvqvo.

Clue 3: Someone mentioned seeing Ms. King fill the bowl with mint candies this morning.

Derived: The cow must have gone to Mrs. King's room or the office after the morning to get candy.

Clue 4: J bcdmnwc oxdwm j vrwc fajyyna wnja cqn bwjlt bqjlt frcq j blarkkunm wxcn: ljuu vn jc 650806

Clue 4: A student found a mint wrapper near the snack shack with a scribbled note: call me at 650806

Derived: These numbers could be part of the next clue, for the 10-digit encryption.  

Clue 5: Tt wnk zbxrj bhk jwf. Ib cjssnj tw Sb. Bgscpef’z xlkike cv pky katmf, zmev nduo uzt woco cnj RH tplb.

Clue 5: No one stole the cow. It walked to Ms. Sanchez’s office to get candy, then hung out with the JH kids.

Derived: The cow was not stolen by anyone, it simply went to the office because it liked to eat candy and play with kids.  

Solution: For clues 1-4, I used my regular decrypt function and created a for loop that tried out each possible key from 1 to 26. For clue 5, I used the decrypt10() function, because I realized that the first word could not have 2 of the same letters, so it had to be decoded using a 10-digit key. I used the keys of the first 4 clues to get the last 4 digits. I also figured out that the first 6 digits were the phone number given in clue 4. Using this information, I found that the key was 6508069789. 

Reflection:

S- I think that one of my strengths was my determination, and even though I was not able to easily solve clue 5, me and my partner never gave up. We kept on fixing and debugging our code until it finally worked properly. I read the error description and carefully found the mistake and fixed the code.

O- Some opportunities to improve are to challenge myself and properly use clues 1-4 to help me figure out clue 5. Also, Ms. Tran told us that the first 4 clues are supposed to make up the last 4 digits of the phone number/10-digit key.

U- During this project, I learned how to use python and code a Caesar Cipher with a one-digit key and a 10-digit key. I learned to encrypt and decrypt as well using code. 

L- A limitation I encountered was when the code was not working, though I did find and fix the error at the end of the project.

WISCR: During this project, I think I showed  W (well-rounded) and  I (insightful critical thinker) in WISCR because I showed determination even when I had lots of errors and was confused. I pushed through and fixed the code. I also worked well with my partner, helping her debug, and we helped each other.