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.

This lesson gives students a very basic introduction to the data transmission concept of packets and how data is broken down, transmitted across a network, and then re-assembled into a final product.

Lesson Plan for CS 7th grade. OBJECTIVES 1. At the end of this lesson students will be able to create and execute an algorithm that “programs” a partner to move from point A to point B, avoiding obstacles . 2. Students will plan independently and collaboratively to create a program 3. Students will share their pseudocode in Google Classroom or print completed pseudo code. 4. If time allows, students will begin to code their programs using a text based programming language.

Explore the fundamentals of computer science by building an interactive computer model of cells in Scratch. No previous experience in computer programming is required. Programming Cells was created by Dr. Jeff Saucerman, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia.

Cross curricular lesson plans integrating Computer Science and Mathematics Standards CS 7.7 Mathematics 7.9 b-c

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.

Students will explore the opportunities and challenges of using renewable energy by selecting a Minecraft Biome and developing a home that utilizes the unique characteristics of that biome to create energy. The lesson is intended to be completed in two different parts. In Part 1, students will learn about how Clean Energy sources can be different based on the biome. They will also familiarize themselves with Minecraft. In Part 2, students will select a specific Minecraft world (6 different biomes) and will design and build a home that uses a renewable energy source unique to that biome.  

In this lesson students will be able to identify that computers, like the solar system, complete predictable actions based on a set of variables. Students will learn about the solar system via Scratch.  They will explore block coding and computational thinking practices as they utilize Scratch as a tool for creativity, expression and learning about the Solar System. 

Students Compare Theoretical and Experimental Probability by gathering date, experimenting, and creating a graph.

This activity introduces puts participants in the role of agricultural workers in a fresh produce operation that grows crops in a hydroponic system to sell at grocery stores. As they grow their crops over the course of several weeks, they are responsible for ensuring that the products are safe, delicious, and ready to sell to customers. 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

Students will publish a class website about visiting a country after completing research on the internet. Students will use a variety of resources to explore how we stay connected globally, as well as look at how technology has changed the way information is shared around the world. Students will describe how their website might be viewed or accessed around the globe and how it might impact those who see it.

Students will program Sphero RVR+ robots to explore a mock crime scene to determine if it is safe for humans to investigate without destroying evidence or running into objects. Students will apply their knowledge of physical evidence to determine what objects in the crime scene need to be avoided when sending the robot into the crime scene.

Cross curricular lesson plans integrating Computer Science and Mathematics Standards CS 7.4 Mathematics 7.10 b, e

This performance task is a computer science (CS) integration project where your students will take you on a virtual field trip. It can be to a museum, a historical site, a modern destination, a book, a planet or really anywhere. Along the way, they will incorporate CS concepts into their projects including sequences, conditionals, and events to add interactivity. This is a great project for students to share their research and learning from a wide variety of subject areas like social studies, language arts, world languages, history, etc. This unit includes 5th grade standards for the Virginia CS Standards of Learning, but it can easily be adapted for younger and older students. The latest resources for this project can be found at https://sites.google.com/virginia.edu/virtualfieldtrip/resources.

Students will learn about The Water Walker, Josephine Mandamin, and discuss and research topics related to the protection of our water sources. Students will then take their research and consider how advancements in technology over the past 50 years (specifically transportation and and business (shipping, manufacturing) have impacted the local water supplies.This lesson was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC). 

This activity introduces the idea of cyberbiosecurity in the context of a "clue" style activity focused on vulnerabilities in the U.S. food system. It can be facilitated in 60 minutes, either in a single session or 3-4 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

This is the 4th and last activity in the CS Heros Unit of Study.Students have watched a PBS CS video and read several articles about early computer science heros.  Next, they took three short (5 to 9 questions) quiz.  These math-up activites cover the computer scientists and inventors learned about (Parts 1-3) in the videos, articles, and quizzes.  When all three parts and the match-ups are complete, my students type one paragraph to be shared in a collaborative presentation. We design this together in class to highlight how these CS Heros and their inventions have helped Virginia advance and grow in technology commerce as well as contribute to the global economy.  Students make one slide with their paragraph and another with images of Virginia-based companys, technological discoveries, and/or computer scientists.  Once slides are shared to me, I add them to the presentation and we upload the presentation to our Google Classroom. We review slides over the upcoming weeks, a few slides shared each day, until all students have presented.