Unit 1: Digital Information

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Explain how the same piece of information can be represented in a variety of different ways.

• Use a device to represent different pieces of information

• Use patterns to represent information

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Follow a set of rules for ordering sets of patterns

• Explain the challenges of creating a clear set of rules for ordering patterns

Warm up: (Write in journal then share with partner)

• How many ways can you represent 7?

• What can we communicate using only two symbols? Is there a limit?

1. Create a Flippy Do and complete the Binary Practice

2. Hand in the Flippy Do Activity Guide

3. Complete Lesson 4 Check for Understanding on Code.org

4. HW/Project: Khan Academy Digital Information Unit Complete all items

   • Bits and Bytes

   • Binary Numbers

   • Quiz 1

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Describe how to include fractions in the binary number system.

• Understand that overflow and roundoff errors result from real-world limitations in representing place value.

1. Warm Up: (Write in Journal) Imagine you work at a local store. In the register all you have are nine $10 bills, nine $1 bills, and nine dimes.

• What’s the largest amount of change that you can give someone?

• What’s the least?

• What would you do if someone needed .07 cents in change?

1. Explore the Binary Odometer on Code.org Navigate to Level 2. Play with the odometer to figure out how it works. Set the binary odometer to the highest number possible. Then let it run! What happens to the odometer reading? Does the odometer still show the distance driven by the car?

2. Complete the Flippy Do Pro Challenges

3. Wrap Up in Journal:

   1. What does the binary odometer show about representing large numbers?

   2. What does the Flippy Do Pro show about representing very small numbers?

   3. If we had a big enough odometer or Flippy Do Pro, could we represent every possible number?

4. Complete the Check for Understanding Lesson 5 on Code.org

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Develop a system for using numbers to represent text

• Explain how bits are grouped to represent abstractions like numbers and text.

• Describe the challenges in representing text when using a fixed number of bits for each character

Warm Up: This list secretly represents four things we experience every year. This list is not complete - there are others that we could add to it. Brainstorm with your neighbor what you think this list represents. When you think you have an idea, come up with another item to add to this list and be ready to explain why it belongs.

• 1 1

• 2 14

• 7 4

• 10 31

In our warm-up, we used numbers to represent certain type of information. In today's activity, we will also use numbers to represent something that computers use pretty frequently: text messages. Develop a system for representing text using bits based on what you already know about representing numbers.

• 1. Challenge #1 - Spaces

  2. Challenge #2 - Punctuation

  3. Challenge #3 - Capitals and Numbers

  4. Challenge #4 - Review all symbols

  5. Complete Khan Academy Storing Text in Binary (Read article and answer practice questions)

  6. Complete Check for Understanding Lesson 6 on Code.org

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Explain how bits can be used to represent the individual pixels of a color image

• Explain how digital data is used to approximate real-world analog data

1. Warm Up/Journal: How many different shades of the color blue can you name? How many do you think there are in total?

2. Learn how computers represent color images using bits using the Pixelation Widget on Code.org

• Color Pixelation: Task 1: Can you make all 8 unique colors using 3 bits per color?

• Color Pixelation: Task 2: Use 2 bits for each color channel, which means 6 bits per pixel! Follow a similar pattern to do the shades of green and blue in the last two rows (red is already done).

3. Journal: How is an image represented on a computer? Watch How Computers Work. Record the layers of abstraction in your journals.

4. Complete Check for Understanding Lesson 8 on Code.org

1. Warm Up: Imagine you were using some of our pixelation tools to create an image and you posted it online for your friends to see - but, a week later you find out someone took that image and put it on a T-shirt that they’re selling for $10 each. How would you feel in this situation?

2. Read: Fortnite Stealing Dance Moves

3. Copyright Overview

Before we can really discuss this question, we need some additional background information. We are going to watch three videos. Our goal is to better understand the rules of copyright, and to better understand when we can reuse or remix something.

• Video #1: Copyright Overview (2 minutes)

• Video #2: Copyright in Practice (4 minutes)

• Video #3: Creative Commons Copyright (3 minutes)

Re-read the article in order to answer these questions:

• What was digitized?

• What was the goal or purpose of digitizing this thing?

• Is someone benefiting from this situation? If so, who?

• Is someone being harmed in this situation? If so, who?

• Are these impacts intended or unintended? How do you know?

Students should continue to annotate the article by adding the following symbols:

3. 1. Add a + next to sentences that show benefit

   2. Add a - next to sentences that show harm

   3. Add a face next to sentences that show impact

4. Complete Copyright, DRM and the DMCA on Khan Academy. What examples of fair use have you encountered? Have any of your own uses of copyrighted material met the criteria of fair use? How "fair" is fair use to the author of the work? [Discuss]

5. Complete Lesson 11 and 12 Check for Understanding on Code.org

Note: Code.org Lesson 12 Omitted/Modified for Timing