This will help students understand the difference between modeling and simulation.  They are able to run a simulation program and see that over time it should get closer to the theorectical probabilty.

Video Description:  In this close-up video, Dr. Catherine Nakalembe, Remote Sensing Scientist for NASA Harvest, shares her passion for helping farmers around the world through the use of NASA satellites to monitor crops from space to increase sustainability. She also describes how her love for hiking, photography, and travel supports her work.  Video Length:  2:09.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 Ask SME: Close-up with a NASA Subject Matter Expert videos are professionally developed to capture a glimpse of NASA SME's personal interests and career journeys. Each can be used to spark student interest and broaden their ideas of the STEM workforce. Additional videos in this series can be found by searching GoOpenVA using "NASA eClips Ask SME".

Video Description:  How does NASA test ideas, like the Mars Helicopter, before they are even built? Find out more about this revolutionary helicopter and how NASA uses mathematical modeling to turn complex ideas into solvable equations that help shape future missions. Video Length:  3:20.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 Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

NASA eClips Real World:  Food Security -- Monitoring Crops from SpaceVideo Description:  Discover how NASA's Earth-observing satellites gather data to monitor food growth. Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef describes how mathematics is used to interpret satellite data and describe vegetation and crop yield. Dr. Hannah Kerner shares how algorithms and models use NASA data to describe and predict food supply and food shortages. This work through NASA Harvest provides tools for farmers and governments to describe and predict food security worldwide. Video Length:  5:25.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 Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Video Description:  At NASA everything begins with an idea. Physical models help NASA engineers and technicians test those ideas before building full-scale versions. Learn more about the important role physical modeling, building prototypes and mathematics play in engineering solutions.  Video Length:  3:11.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 Real World segments (grades 6-8) connect classroom mathematics to 21st Century careers and innovations.  They are designed for students to develop an appreciation for mathematics through real-world problem solving.

Students will preform three mini-lab activities with no previous knowledge of Newton's laws of motion. Each lab activity demonstrates one of Newton's laws of motions. Students will write their observations from the three mini-labs and then use these observations later to connect which lab went with which law of motion, after the teacher formally introduces Newton's Laws of Motion.

Have you ever thought about how we determine the likelihood of certain events happening? Computational models are mathematical representations of real-world phenomena, while simulations mimic real-world processes. In this lesson, we will discuss computational models and simulations, and then perform a simulation to determine if the mathematical probability of getting heads when we flip a coin matches what we find in real life.

In this first part of a three part series, students will explore the ideas around Brute Force algorithm/programs to further understand the importance of password development, use, safety, and safekeeping while completing several unplugged activities over the course of three class periods (approximately 30-45 minutes each).  These activites can be completed seperately with a few 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.

In this second part of a three part series, students will explore the ideas around Decrease, or Divide, and Conquer algorithm/programs to further understand the importance of password development, use, safety, and safekeeping by completing several unplugged activities over the course of three class periods (approximately 30-45 minutes each).  These activites can be completed seperately (stand-alone) with a few 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.

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.

Students will investigate the Dakota Access Pipeline and the timeline of events surrounding it. They will collaborate to research the impact this new technology has had, and continues to have, on Native People in that area, as well as create a decision making model to compare and contrast the supporting and opposing perspectives.

This a a Bike Race game from Gamilab about public and private information that is based on SOL 8.9. The player will navigate a biker through a path by correctly answering questions about information. The biker is navigated by using the arrow keys on a keyboard. 

This lesson takes students through the examination of the poem Remember and its use of figurative language to set the stage for considering how the physical world around us has changed in the past 50 years. Students research a specific local plant, animal, or element of weather and how it has changed over time, and then use Twine to represent their research in a digital story. This lesson culminates with the discussion of whether or not we are doing a good job of listening to Virginia’s natural elements over the past 50 years. This lesson was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC). 

Before goods are shipped in trucks or containers, they are usually placed in protective packaging and arranged on pallets for efficient transport. Stacking goods on a pallet is a repetitive job that can cause injury to workers. Because of this, many factories that require a high volume of palletization have turned to using robots to perform palletizing tasks. In this lesson plan, students learn how to program a robot to be efficient and effective at this real-world task.

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. 

Overview: This lesson is presented by Code.org
Lesson 8: Cybersecurity - Simple Encryption

From the website:
OVERVIEW
"In this lesson, students are introduced to the need for encryption and simple techniques for breaking (or cracking) secret messages. Students try their own hand at cracking a message encoded with the classic Caesar cipher and also a Random Substitution Cipher. Students should become well-acquainted with idea that in an age of powerful computational tools, techniques of encryption will need to be more sophisticated. The most important aspect of this lesson is to understand how and why encryption plays a role in all of our lives every day on the Internet, and that making good encryption is not trivial. Students will get their feet wet with understanding the considerations that must go into making strong encryption in the face of powerful computational tools that can be used to crack it. The need for secrecy when sending bits over the Internet is important for anyone using the Internet."

OBJECTIVE
"Explain why encryption is an important need for everyday life on the Internet.
Crack a message encrypted with a Caesar cipher using a Caesar Cipher Widget
Crack a message encrypted with random substitution using Frequency Analysis
Explain the weaknesses and security flaws of substitution ciphers"

The lesson is mapped out for teachers. It is easy to follow and includes vocabulary to cover, links to the necessary materials, and a teaching guide with background information, tips, and prompts.

AGENDA
Warm Up (10 min)
Classic Encryption - The Caesar Cipher

Activity (35 min)
Part 1 - Crack a Caesar Cipher
Part 2 - Crack a Random Substitution Cipher

Wrap Up (15 min)
Video: Encryption and Public Keys
Discussion
Career Discussion

***This lesson can be adapted for younger students but material covered aligns best with the current 8th grade Impacts of Computing Standards.

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 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.

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.