In this final part of a three part series, students will practice Brute Force and Decrease (or Divide) and Conquer methods to try to crack a password puzzle to further understand the importance of password development, use, safety, and safekeeping by completing several unplugged sorting activities over the course of three class periods (approximately 30-45 minutes each).  These activites can be completed seperately with a few minor adjustments as well. Part 1 introduces Brute Force using a playing cards demonstration to sort as desired.  Part 2 introduces Decrease (or Divide) and Conquer to sort Quadrilaterals from Non-Quadrilateral shapes.  Part 3 uses the methods of both Brute Force and Divide and Conquer algorithms to decrypt (unscramble) passwords using commonly recognizable number patterns and words (completed on paper, or unplugged).  These activitess are intended for upper middle school students, but could also be adjusted for lower level highschool or simplified/adjusted for other ages as well with the editable copies provided.

Passwords are essential to protecting our private information from others. Use this lesson to explore some basic probabilty behind password options and how easily they can be guessed! This lesson provides an intro into cybersecurity and its vocabulary, as well as incorporates low prep activities you can modifiy to fit your needs.

Strand: Cybersecurity7.6 The student will describe how physical and digital security measures protect electronic information.A network is a collection of computers, phones, servers, network or other devices connected to allow data sharing among users. An example of a network is the internet, which connects tens of millions of people all over the world.There are two types of networks. Private networks are the kind you use at home. Private networks have security measures in place to prevent unwanted or unauthorized connections. Public networks are networks that are often used at schools or hospitals. Public networks are far less secure than home or private networks.