This lesson exposes students to the idea that computers have their own numeric language and that any data such as a picture, color, song, etc. can actually be represented using numeric values a computer understands.  Students will be able to identify the binary system and use the binary codes to represent textual data.  Students will also be able to represent pictures using numeric values by understanding and using the concept of pixels

Video Description:  Have you ever wondered where food comes from? Learn how Dr. Catherine Nakalembe uses NASA satellite data to show the health and location of crops around Our World. Maps created from these data help people become more food secure. You can help, too. Using the GLOBE Observer App, you can help scientists validate satellite data by describing land covering through the Adopt a Pixel program.  Video Length:  5:23.    NASA eClipsTM is a suite of online student-centered, standards-based resources that support instruction by increasing STEM literacy in formal and nonformal settings.  These free digital and downloadable resources inform and engage students through NASA-inspired, real-world connections.NASA eClips Our World videos (grades 3-5) help students understand the differences between science (the natural world) and engineering (the designed world).  These video segments supplement elementary learning objectives not only in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but also in reading, writing, visual and performing arts. 

Students practice converting between RGB and hexadecimal (hex) formats. They learn about mixing primary colors in order to get the full spectrum of colors and how to average pixel values.

This unit is designed for advanced programming classes. It leads students through a study of human vision and computer programming simulation. Students apply their previous knowledge of arrays and looping structures to implement a new concept of linked lists and RGB decomposition in order to solve the unit's Grand Challenge: writing a program to simulate peripheral vision by merging two images. This unit connects computer science to engineering by incorporating several science topics (eye anatomy, physics of light and color, mathematics, and science of computers) and guides students through the design process in order to create final simulations.

As a part of the research and revise step of the Legacy Cycle, this lesson provides students with information they will need later on to be able to average pixels to simulate blurring in the peripheral plane of vision. Students learn why image color becomes important as we distort the outer boundaries of an image and have to interpolate pixels to fill in gaps created from our algorithm. Students learn what a digital image is, what pixels are, and how to convert between RGB and hexadecimal values.