Students will examine the history and culture of the Choctaw Native Americans, as well as the story of the Code Talkers in WW1, in order to memorialize one of the Choctaw Code Talkers. 

The student or class will watch a video clip about spies and secret codes from the past.  Next students will be able to use a Pigpen cipher to crack a secret message of their own.  Teachers can edit the message to fit their needs and make adjustments as desired.  This is one mini lesson out of a series of five.

The student or class will watch a video clip about how to decode a Vigenère Square Cipher.Next students will be able to use the cipher to crack a secret message of their own (teacher provided messages in a hat (not inlcuded)).  One student chooses the word or phrase, the teacher puts the key (word) on the board, that same student will encrypt the message and send it to their partner.  The partner with use the same key word to return the text to plain text revealing the message and send their guess back to their partner. Teachers can edit the message to fit their needs and make adjustments as desired.  This is one mini lesson out of a series of five (part 2) and can be used alone, or with other lessons in the series. Vigenère Square Ciphefrom the past.  Next students will be able to use a Pigpen cipher to crack a secret message of their own.  Teachers can edit the message to fit their needs and make adjustments as desired.  This is one mini lesson out of a series of five. Vigenère Square Ciphe

The student or class will read about book ciphers and how they work.  Students will then be able to use a cipher provided to crack a secret message.  Teachers can edit the message to fit their needs and make adjustments as desired.  This is one mini lesson out of a series of five, this is lesson four and it can be completed alone, or with any of the other lessons.

The student or class will watch a video clip about ciphers, specifically Caesar Ciphers.  Next students will learn more about encryption and decryption through the use of "keys".  Lastly, students will be introduced to the career path choices as a Cyber-security analyst. This is one lesson out of a series of five, and can be used alone, or with the some or all of the other four lessons.

Women code-breakers changed the course of WWII by cracking Japanese codes that revealed the movements of people and supplies in the Pacific Islands. In this lesson, students will learn how specific information discovered led to a turning point when cryptographers were able to pinpoint the plans of the Pearl Harbor Attack’s “architect”, Admiral Yamomoto.Students will examine videos and articles to find out more about this episode in history. In pairs or small groups, they’ll look at the US Post Office’s newly revealed stamp commemorating it. They’ll identify what they think are the pros and cons of the stamp and then design their own. 

This lesson is designed to engage students in a meaningful and fun coding experience, while investigating sanitation practices, food, and kitchen safety. Students will create an animated story using block-based coding in Scratch. This overarching lesson idea (research – storyboard – code) can be applied to any subject.

This lesson plan is for middle school art, teaching how computer graphics work are designed with pixels and aliasing. It reinforces how a computer shows a picture while refining art skills.

This activity is designed to help students review the potential careers associated with computer science.  This should follow a discussion about the wide variety of career choices for students.

This resource will show how to teach your students to make their own "formula calculator" using Java programming, and it has handouts for your students or your own use. It is ideal for Grade 7 and Grade 8 Math.The video in this resource walks you through the steps to teach your students to program their "formula calculator" using Java programming after they have been taught about geometric formulas. They can then use their calculator to help them solve their math problems. It will reinforce critical thinking skills and create a deeper understanding of how the formulas work.Students can use any Java IDE or even an online IDE. The lesson can be customized based on your familiarity with Java and your students' computer skills.The handouts show how to use arithmetic operators in Java as well as some Math class methods that will be helpful. The attached program can be used as a starting point for their programs. 

The lessons provided are presented by Scholastic and sponsored by Norton Lifelock.
All rights reserved by Scholastic.
Below is an overview of the three lessons provided.
The lessons do not coincide with one another.
The teacher can choose to use all three or select the best option for the classroom needs.

The PDF Links includes:
Lesson 1: Understanding Online Safety (45 minutes)
- Students will analyze text, citing evidence and summarizing central ideas. They will make inferences to create their own cybersecurity protection plan.
- Students will use the provided copy of #Cybersmarts student magazine to create their personalized online protection plan.

Lesson 2: Identifying Preventive Technologies (45 minutes + presentation time)
- Students will conduct research on preventive technologies built and used by professionals in the cybersecurity field (e.g., firewalls, ad blocker apps, antivirus software, voice recognition software, virtual private network (VPN), etc.).
- Students will then prepare a presentation - the given choices are a skit or interview. Presentation options can be easily adapted to best fit your classroom needs.
- Research planning/ gathering page is provided.

Lesson 3: Making Online Profiles More Secure (2 part lesson - 90 minutes total)
- Students will use analytical and reasoning skills to identify areas of vulnerability in an online profile and come up with strategies for how to make them more secure by applying information from a text.
- First, students will analyze their own personal profiles (if applicable). Then, they will analyze a provided “profile” to identify security holes. Last, discuss the answers and reasonings as a class.
*This lesson can be shortened to fit into one class period.
*(Optional) An extension idea is provided. It includes information from all lessons. Students will use what they have learned to create their own cybersecurity device.

This activity introduces cybersecurity concerns with technologies commonly used in the livestock industry  in the context of a "clue" style activity in which students act as private investigators looking for a lost racehorse. It can be facilitated in 90 minutes, either in a single session or 4-5 shorter sessions. This activity is part of the Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection that contains resources for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Published as Open Educational Resources, all resources are provided in durable (pdf) and customizable (MS Word) formats. They are hosted on  GoOpenVA in a unique resource collection, Ag Cybersecurity Virginia Tech, at https://goopenva.org/curated-collections/143 and on on Virginia Tech’s stable repository, VTechWorks at https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity

The student will use a table of personal data collected about plugged/unplugged activites and times of rest throughout the period of one week (7 days) to document screen times in comparison to active and restful breaks for a computer science integration and digital balance project.This Part 1 activity uses the data collected in a table to teach students how to copy and paste a table from Docs into Slides, and how to develop a Slideshow Presentation with tables (Part 1) and graphs (Part 2).  Students are given opportunities to collect and analyze data, to enter information into tables and graphs, to develop and share presentations in Slides, as well as summarize and draw conclusions about the data collection, graphing, and results as comparable to their peers, digital categories, or peer groups (Gamers vs YouTubers, Boys vs Girls, etc.).The goal/s of this unit is to help students realize the importance of living a digitally balanced life and to help students develop skills for creating and using digital tables and graphs with an introduction to data collection and analysis.

The student will use previously collected personal and peer data (Part 1: Screen Time Logs) to graph a bar and pie graph in Slides using Sheets to graph the data collected.This is the second part of an intended presentation project for a computer CTE middle school class, but can be edited and adapted for any graphing and/or computer integration lessons about bar and pie graphs and how to make them in Google Sheets using Google Slides.

In this activity, participants plan and conduct a plant growth experiment while considering the role of data quality in automated systems in agriculture. The timing of the activity is highly dependent on the seed variety that you are growing and the level of familiarity that participants already have with basic plant science and scientific investigation concepts, but will likely take several weeks. This activity is part of the Agricultural Cyberbiosecurity Education Resource Collection that contains resources for formal and non-formal agricultural educators working with middle school aged youth. Published as Open Educational Resources, all resources are provided in durable (pdf) and customizable (MS Word) formats. They are hosted on  GoOpenVA in a unique resource collection, Ag Cybersecurity Virginia Tech, at https://goopenva.org/curated-collections/143 and on on Virginia Tech’s stable repository, VTechWorks at https://doi.org/10.21061/cyberbiosecurity

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the idea of decomposition. Specifically the lesson caters to math word problems, but could be easily modified to any subject (as found in the modificaitons section of the lesson plan). Students will engage with each other and the vocab to work through an easy process to decompose word problems into manaeagable pieces as a strategy to solve. All activities are low prep and can be modified to your needs. This can be a stand alone lesson or expanded by using Part 2 and Part 3 to deepen understanding through coding activities. 

This lesson expands upon the ideas of decomposition by using GameChangineer to incorporate commands to create a coded mini game from decomposing word problems. Students will assist the teacher in this guided lesson on how to create commands and use the website before engaing independently in Part 3. Activities are low prep with modifications included, but do require organized planning to implement effectively. If you have not done a lesson on decomposition, it is suggested you use Part 1 to help student's gain the necessary understandings of the processes used in this lesson. 

This is the final part of an extended lesson on decomposition. Students will create a word problem to decompose and then use GameChangineer to create a mini game that is reflective of the word problem and its solution. Students will be using the plan, design, and review process thourhgout their creations. A rubric and self reflection tool for the final products are included. Activities are low prep with modifications included, but do require organized planning to implement effectively. If you have not done a lesson on decomposition, it is suggested you use Part 1 to help student's gain the necessary understandings of the processes used in this lesson. If you have not done a lesson on writing commands and using GameChangineer, it is suggested you use Part 2 before implementing this independent activity. 

This interactive lesson teaches middle school students about how information is delivered via the internet. Students will review/ be introduced to vocabulary words, gain an understanding of packets and servers, and be challenged with different internet connectivity (Wi-Fi, cable, DSL, and Fiber Optic) as they work together as a team to deliver a message to another IP address.

This lesson has been slightly adapted from the original version from Code.org. All the links and copyright information are included in the lesson. The teacher is able to use the original or the premade materials from this document.

Have fun!