Unit 4

UNIT Ch.
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Unit 4 - Big Data and Privacy
In this unit students explore the technical, legal, and ethical questions that arise from computers enabling the collection and
analysis of enormous amounts of data. In the first half of the unit, students learn about both the technological innovations
enabled by data and the privacy and security concerns that arise from collecting it. In the second half of the unit, students
learn how cryptography can be used to help protect private information in the digital age.
Chapter 1: Big Data and Privacy

Big Questions Enduring Understandings
What opportunities do large data sets provide for 3.2 Computing facilitates exploration and the discovery
solving problems and creating knowledge? of connections in information.
How is cybersecurity impacting the ever-increasing 3.3 There are trade offs when representing
number of Internet users? information as digital data.
How does cryptography work? 4.2 Algorithms can solve many but not all
computational problems.
6.3 Cybersecurity is an important concern for the
Internet and the systems built on it.
7.1 Computing enhances communication, interaction,
and cognition.
7.3 Computing has a global affect -- both beneficial
and harmful -- on people and society.
7.4 Computing innovations influence and are
influenced by the economic, social, and cultural
contexts in which they are designed and used.
Week 1
Lesson 1: What is Big Data?

External Tool
Students are introduced to the concept of “big data,” where it comes from, what makes it “big,” and
how people use big data to solve problems, and how much of their lives are “datafied” or could be.
Lesson 2: Finding Trends with Visualizations
External Tool | Presentation
Students use the Google Trends tool in order to identifying patterns in

historical search data. Students present their findings, differentiating
between explanations of what the data shows versus plausible
explanations for discovered patterns.
Lesson 3: Check Your Assumptions

Research
Students examine the assumptions they make when interpreting data

and visualizations by first reading a report about the "Digital Divide"
which challenges the assumption that data collected online is
representative of the population at large. Students also evaluate a
series of scenarios in which data-driven decisions are made based on
flawed assumptions.
Week 2
Lesson 4: Rapid Research - Data Innovations

Project | Research
Students "rapidly research" a topic of personal interest and respond to questions about how that
innovation produces, uses, or consumes data.
Lesson 5: Identifying People With Data

External Tool
Students investigate some of the world’s biggest data breaches to get a sense for how frequently
they happen and what kinds of data is lost or stolen. They then learn how easily individuals can be
identified with small amounts of seemingly innocuous information.
Week 3
Lesson 6: The Cost of Free

Web Lab
Students examine some of the economic concerns and consumer tradeoffs related to apps and
websites that collect and track data about you in exchange for providing you a service free of cost.
Lesson 7: Simple Encryption
Widget
Students are introduced to encryption and use a widget to attempt cracking some simple
encryption methods.
Lesson 8: Encryption with Keys and Passwords

Widget
Students use a widget to experiment with the Vigenère cipher to learn about the relationship
between cryptographic keys and passwords.
Optional Lesson: Hard Problems - Traveling Salesperson

Problem
Optional
Students examine a well-known computationally hard problem in computer science, the

Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP). Students solve small instances of the problem, try to
formulate algorithms to solve it, and discuss why these algorithms take a long time for computers
(and humans) to compute.
Optional Lesson: One-way Functions - The WiFi Hotspot

Problem
Optional
Students explore another computationally hard problem - the “Wireless Hotspot Problem” (also
know as the vertex cover or dominating sets problem) - to investigate the characteristics of a
"one-way function": a problem which is easy to construct in such a way that you know the
solution, but is computationally hard to solve.
Week 4
Lesson 9: Public Key Cryptography

Widget
In this big, multi-step lesson, students learn how the basic mechanics and underlying mathematical
principles of public key encryption work. Public key encryption is the basis for most secure
transactions on the internet.
Lesson 10: Rapid Research - Cybercrime

Research | Project
Students pick a type of cyber attack or cybercrime and do some “rapid research” to learn more
about it. The lesson can be used to wrap up the unit or students may optionally complete the
Practice PT in the following lesson before moving on to complete the Explore PT.
Optional Lesson: Practice PT - Big Data and Cybersecurity

Dilemmas
Optional
Students complete a small research project about a dilemma related to either Big Data or
Cybersecurity. The project mimics elements of the Explore Performance Task.
Chapter Commentary
Chapter Commentary
Key Concepts and Pedagogy
The Pros and Cons of Big Data: The story of this unit is about coming to terms with the world of Big Data that we now
inhabit, and addressing the new modern dilemmas that come along with it. In many ways, this unit acts as a current events
unit, since the daily news is filled with examples: should the government get “backdoor keys” to encryption algorithms in
order to unlock a cell phone used by a terrorist? Should a social media site be able to use the data it has about you and
your relationships to direct advertising at you, or sell information about you to others? These pressing questions have no
easy answers, and the goal is to empower students to understand and come to their own conclusions about the balance of
benefits and harms resulting from our data rich world.
Exploring the Foundations of Cryptography: The activities in the third week around data encryption should look and
feel similar to lessons from Units 1 and 2. The general pattern is to introduce a concept through an unplugged activity or
thinking prompt, and then “plug it in” by using a widget to explore the concept further. The widgets allow students time to get
hands-on with some of the ideas underlying encryption, which are often mathematical in nature.
Rapid Research Lessons: Many of the lessons in this unit are designed as practice for elements of the Explore
Performance Task. In particular, the two “Rapid Research” lessons are good practice for the relatively quick research and
writing students will have to do for the Explore PT. The goal is for students to become adept at looking up sources,
reading/skimming articles for their main points, and being able to explain both sides of an argument or dilemma related to
big data, security and privacy.
Ready for the Explore PT: Following the conclusion of this unit students should be ready to complete the Explore PT. If
you are teaching this course as an AP it’s recommended that after this unit you move on to the Explore PT Prep Unit and
then have students complete the actual Explore Performance Task.
If you are interested in licensing Code.org materials for commercial purposes,contact us.
UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 1: What is Big Data?
External Tool
Overview View on Code Studio
In this lesson, students are introduced to the concept of “big data,” Objectives
where it comes from, what makes it “big,” and how people use big
Students will be able to:
data to solve problems. Students are asked to consider how much of
their lives are “datafied” or could be, and the teacher will show the Identify sources of data produced, used, and
projected growth of data in the world. Students will then investigate a consumed by a web application.
big data tool in pairs to evaluate the tool for its usefulness and Given a tool that provides access to a large
investigate the source of the data used to make the tool. A key take- dataset, explain the kinds of problems such a
away from the lesson is that different considerations need to be made tool could solve.
when trying to look at, use, or analyze tools that use big data. The Use a tool that provides access to “big data”
world of big data is big, and we’ve only begun to figure out how to and investigate its sources.
solve problems with it. Explain that new techniques are necessary to
store, manage, transmit, and process data at
The lesson concludes with a brief introduction to the AP Explore the scale it is currently being produced.
Performance Task which students are recommended to complete at
the end of the unit. Links
Purpose Heads Up! Please make a copy of
Big data is a big deal right now, both in the field of computer science any documents you plan to share
and more broadly across fields and industries. Understanding the with students.
types of things that can be captured in data and anticipating the types
For the Students
of innovations or new knowledge that can be built upon this data is
increasingly the role of the computer scientist. A first step toward College Board - Assessment Overview
understanding big data is a survey of how big data is already being and Performance Task Directions for
Students
used to learn and solve problems across numerous disciplines. The
Activity Guide - Big Data Sleuth Card -
scale of big data makes it hard to “see” sometimes, and techniques for
Activity Guide Make a Copy
looking at, working with, and understanding data change once the
data is “big.” Everything, from how it’s stored to how it’s processed to Big data is better data - TED talk - Video
how it's visualized, is a little different once you enter the realm of big AI, Ain't I a Woman? - Joy Buolamwini -
data. Video
Moore's Law Chart - Image
Agenda Moore's Law - Wikipedia Article
Getting Started (25 mins) Vocabulary

Video: Big data is better data
Big Data - a broad term for datasets so large
Activity (30 mins)
or complex that traditional data processing
Exponential Growth and Moore's Law (10 mins)
Big Data Sleuth Card (20 mins) applications are inadequate.
Moore's Law - a predication made by
Wrap-up (20 mins)
Gordon Moore in 1965 that computing power
Big Data Wrap Up (10 mins)
will double every 1.5-2 years, it has remained
Introduce Explore PT (10 mins)
more or less true ever since.
Extended Learning
Assessment
Teaching Guide
Getting Started (25 mins)
Video: Big data is better data
 Video: Big data is better data - TED talk - Video
 Discussion
Prompt: Based on what you saw in the video, what is Goal
big data? Goal: Get students acquainted with the world of big data.
Do some simple investigations into some tools that use big
Discuss: In small groups, have students share their data to get a sense of where the data comes from and how
responses. Afterwards, open the discussion to the whole it’s used.
class. The main points to draw out from this conversation
are:
 Teaching Tip
Big data means different things, at different times, to
different people. Timing: This is a rather long Getting Started activity, due
to the length of the videos. Note that the main activity is
It can mean devices that are constantly collecting data. shorter to compensate.
It can mean digitizing data that’s been around for a
long time (e.g., every book ever written).
It can mean machine learning and artificial intelligence.
However, Big data is not always better data. A data set can be incomplete or lack diversity, be misinterpreted, or misused.
Video: AI, Ain't I a Woman? - Joy Buolamwini - Video
Prompt: What is the problem that is presented in the video? How do you think this came about? What concerns to you
have about big data after watching the video?
The data was not diverse enough to accurately recognize a person's gender
This leads to questions about how the data set was set up, and the diversity of the team that worked on it
This also leads to concerns about how the data set is used and what people groups are excluded from accurate
representation
Activity (30 mins)

Exponential Growth and Moore's Law (10 mins)
Display: Direct students to the graphic showing the exponential growth of data, either by projecting it or having them find it
on the Code.org website.
 Remarks
Part of what contributes to data being "big" is the sheer growth of the amount of data in the world. Let’s have a look at a
graph that shows us just how large big data is.
As you can see from the chart, the amount of data flying around is growing exponentially, doubling every two years or so.
Here’s a way to think about how fast this is: The world will produce as much digital data over the next 2 years, as
currently existed in all of humanity prior to that. And it will do the same the 2 years after that. And so on. That’s a lot!
Moore's Law
Briefly introduce Moore's Law as a simple piece of vocabulary.
However you do it, here are some key ideas students need to know aboutMoore's Law:
Moore's law is actually about computing power, not data, but data growth seems to following the same trend
So far, computing power/capacity seems to double every 1.5-2 years...
That means it grows exponentially...
Exponential growth is hard for humans to fathom...
 Teaching Tip
Yet we need to plan for it.
 Moore's Law Remarks Time check: You should spend at most 10 minutes with
exponential growth and Moore's law. Most of the time
There is a principle in computer science known as should be spent working on the "Big Data Sleuth" activity
Moore's Law. that follows.
Moore's Law - Wikipedia Article Data Graphic: (Note: This graphic is available for
students on Code.org website) The IDC’s “Digital
It is not a law of nature or mathematics but simply a
Universe” is described as “a measure of all the digital data
surprisingly accurate prediction that was made a long created, replicated, and consumed in a single year.”
time ago. In 1965, a computer chip designer named
source: http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-
Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors reports/idc-the-digital-universe-in-2020.pdf
one could fit on a chip would double every 18 months
or so.
Amazingly, that prediction has more or less held true to
the present day! The result is that since about 1970,
computers have gotten twice as fast, at half the cost,
roughly every 1.5-2 years. With some small differences,
the same is true for data storage capacity.
This is extraordinarily fast growth - we call it
exponential growth. With more and more machines that
are faster and faster, the amount of data being pushed
around, saved, and processed is growing exponentially.
This is so fast that it's hard to fathom and even harder
to plan for. For example:
If the average hard drive today is 1 TB and you are  Teaching Tip
planning for something or 6 years away, you should
Keep It Simple: Students only need to have a sense of
expect that average hard drives will be 8-10 TB.
what Moore's Law is for purposes of putting a name to a
Key Takeaway: We need to keep Moore’s Law in description of how fast computing capacity grows, and to
mind as we plan for the future. understand what it means if they come across it when
reading something.
Big Data Sleuth Card (20 mins) The only reference to it in the framework is this:
Distribute: Activity Guide - Big Data Sleuth Card 7.2.1F Moore's law has encouraged industries that use
computers to effectively plan future research and development
- Activity Guide.
based on anticipated increases in computing power.
 Remarks
Teaching Options:
Big data surrounds us but it is sometimes surprisingly Presentation: You can simply give the remarks provided
challenging to get access to it, use it, or see it. Much
Rapid Research: Have students do some "rapid
of the data out there is in the “wild.” Even when the
data is “available,” it can sometimes be challenging to research" on Moore's Law and come back with some
figure out where it came from, or how to use it. answers to collectively discuss.
Put students into pairs and assign each pair one of the
 5 websites listed.
 Content Corner
1. Web archive http://www.archive.org
2. Measure of America Moore's Law: While the exponential growth principle is
the same for data storage as it is for computing
http://www.measureofamerica.org/maps/
power/speed, it’s worth noting that Moore’s Law actually
3. Wind Sensor network http://earth.nullschool.net/ never referred to data storage capacity, only the number of
4. Twitter sentiment transistors on a chip.
However, the phrase “Moore’s Law” has come to be used
colloquially to refer to the idea that in computers and
information technology everything seems to double -
speed, size, capacity - every 1.5-2 years.
https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/healey/tweet_viz/tweet_app/
5. Alternative Fuel Locator http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/
Student tasks are to follow the resource and answer prompts related to:
1. the visualization tool provided

2. the original source of the data
3. evaluating the usefulness of both the data and the visualization.
Wrap-up (20 mins)

Big Data Wrap Up (10 mins)
Share: Students should share their results from the Big
 Discussion
Data Sleuth Cards with members of another group. This
Goal
can also be conducted as a classwide discussion. Goal: Aim to develop some fluency in talking about the
different kinds of data that are available and how they are
What kinds of data are out there?
being used. Students also have an opportunity to assess
What format does it come it? the usefulness of data visualizations in a new context, now
Where does it come from? that the scale of data will be much larger.
Did anyone find a link to an actual data source? This is a tricky question that a) doesn't have a fixed
Did anyone find an API? What’s an API? definition - whether data is "big" often depends on the
context of the data itself or how it's trying to be used and
Prompt: After your explorations what do you think "big b) even experts might have difficulty pinning it down.
data" actually means? What makes it "big" as opposed to
Try to coax student responses toward ideas that discuss
not?*"
using different, new, or unheard of methods or techniques
Discuss: Have students share their thoughts with a for extracting information from data. The amount of data
you have can lend itself to new techniques and this is often
neighbor. Then share more broadly with the class.
what people mean when talking about the "awesomeness"
 Remarks of Big Data.
Here is a general-purpose definition of Big Data (taken

from Wikipedia: Big Data ): “Big data is a broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional data processing
applications are inadequate." The fact that big data is increasingly important across industries reflects rapid changes in
how much data we're collecting, and the ways we're using it.
In this unit we're going to be looking into how growth in data and computing more generally is impacting society. In almost
every industry and every aspect our lives, computing and data is affecting our lives in both positive and negative ways.
This will also be very useful preparation as we begin to look towards the Explore PT.

Introduce Explore PT (10 mins)  Teaching Tip
Distribute: Give students digital or printed copies of You should be aware that there is a full lesson devoted to
College Board - Assessment Overview and Explore PT prep available in the "AP Explore PT Prep"
unit. That lesson:
Performance Task Directions for Students. We will
review pages 4-6 which introduces the Explore PT Does a deeper dive into the task
Components (Digital copy linked to from student resource Looks at the scoring guidelines
section for this lesson on the Code.org website). Reviews scored samples of projects
Begins the process of preparing to do the real task.
 Remarks
You might want to find a time between this lesson and the
At the end of this unit we will be doing the Explore PT. end of Unit 4 to take a look at it with your students so they
To practice the different components of the PT we'll be can have some time for the task to sink in.
practicing them throughout this unit. We're going to
quickly review those components now, but we'll have
opportunities to review and practice them in the next few lessons as well. For right now you don't need to understand all
the details, just the big picture.
Review: Quick skim this document with the class, touching on the following points.
Page 4: The Explore PT has 2 major components, 1. computational artifact, 2. written responses
Pages 5-6: Skim the submission requirements and give students time to read prompts 2a - 2e.
Highlight prompts 2c and 2d which references beneficial / harmful effects and the way computing innovations use data,
themes of this unit.
 Explore PT discussion
 Discuss: Respond to any questions students share. goals
Don't lose too much time here. You'll have many Goals:
opportunities to review the Explore PT in later lessons. Students are aware they will be completing the Explore
PT after the conclusion of the Unit
Students are aware that they will need to 1) research an
Extended Learning innovation of interest 2) create a computational artifact
3) respond to written reflections
Open Data: You might be interested in looking at some Students are aware they will practice these skills
of the publicly available datasets provided at these sites. throughout and at the conclusion of this unit.
It can take a little digging, but you can see the raw
Keep it short: Avoid making this a 45-minute deep-dive
datasets and some of the applications that have been review of the AP Explore PT and all its components - a
made from them. surface level understanding is all that is needed to
proceed. Practice questions and direct references to
Weather.gov College Board materials are included in each of the next
Open Data (opendata.socrata.com) few lessons. This is a kickoff discussion, and you will have
Open Data Network many opportunities to prepare students for the PT in later
(www.opendatanetwork.com/) lessons.
Google Maps Traffic: Another big data resource that

students may use every day:
Go to maps.google.com and zoom in on your town or city.

Turn on the Live Traffic view for your area or a nearby town or city.
The map should show real-time traffic data.
Have students respond to the same set of questions that they did on the Big Data Sleuth Card. This may take a little
more research, since the sources of the data aren’t as clearly marked.
Assessment
TBD
Standards Alignment
Computer Science Principles
3.2 - Computing facilitates exploration and the discovery of connections in information.
7.2 - Computing enables innovation in nearly every field.
7.5 - An investigative process is aided by effective organization and selection of resources. Appropriate technologies and tools facilitate the
accessing of information and enable the ability to evaluate the credibility of sources.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

DA - Data & Analysis
IC - Impacts of Computing
UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 2: Finding Trends with
Visualizations
External Tool | Presentation
Students use the Google Trends tool in order to visualize historical Objectives
search data. They will need to identify interesting trends or patterns in
their findings and will attempt to explain those trends, based on their
own experience or through further research online. Afterwards, Use Google Trends to identify and explore
students will present their findings to ensure they are correctly connections and patterns within a data
identifying patterns in a visualization and are providing plausible visualization.
explanations of those patterns. Accurately describe what a data visualization
of a trend is showing.
Purpose Provide plausible explanations of trends and
patterns observed within a data visualization.
The two main purposes of this lesson are:
1. Navigating and using a real data tool (Google Trends, see below) Preparation
that is external to the course Use the Google Trends tool to familiarize
2. Getting acquainted with talking and writing about data. In particular yourself.
we want to:
Draw a distinction between describing what the data shows and Links
describing why it might be that way
In other words: describe connections and trends in data Heads Up! Please make a copy of
separate from drawing conclusions. any documents you plan to share
We want students to get in the habit of separating thewhat with students.
from the why when it comes to talking and writing about data
For the Students
As a bit of foreshadowing, the next lesson looks deeper into
assumptions that people make about data that can lead to Exploring Trends - Activity Guide
unintentional consequences and even exacerbate some of society's Make a Copy
divisions. Google Trends - Link
Agenda
Introduce: Data Stories
Activity (30 mins)
Exploring Google Trends
Wrap-up (5-20 mins)
Share Data Stories
Assessment
Teaching Guide
Introduce: Data Stories  Discussion
 Remarks Goal
Goal: Quickly connect today’s activity to previous day, but
Yesterday we started to look at the ways big data is then move into the Google Trends activity.
changing lots of fields. Today we're going to start
looking a little more closely at what we can learn from
data. In particular, how can we use data to learn or "tell a story".
Activity (30 mins)

Exploring Google Trends  Content Corner
Distribute: Activity Guide - Exploring Trends -
Search trends are used in a variety of fields in order to
Activity Guide
understand what topics are most popular across the
As a class or individually students should read the country and world.
summary at the top of the activity guide, which explains Search trends are also powerful predictors.
what information they will be looking at and how to use Medical professionals may use this information to trace
the Google Trends tool. an outbreak of the flu.
Students will use Google Trends a tool which Businesses, media outlets, and advertisers keep a
visualizes data taken from Google search histories all close eye on trending topics in order to understand how
around the world from the past several years. potential customers are thinking.
Students will work individually or in pairs to identify The fact that a global "conversation" is now happening
online and computational tools exist to capture and
topics they wish to examine in greater detail.
visualize that conversation enables entirely new ways of
They should spend some time just exploring the tool, identifying, understanding, and predicting patterns in
but eventually they will need to choose a single topic culture and society at large.
or set of topics that they will use to answer the

questions that appear on the bottom of the activity
guide.  Teaching Tip
Tell a Story Demonstrate the Tool: You may wish to demonstrate

how to use Google Trends in front of the class before
Students should find a trend or set of trends they think asking them to use it themselves. You could use the
is particularly interesting or personally relevant and try following steps:
to tell a story from the data they see. Students will write
Ask students to recommend a search term to display.
down:
As a class, speculate as to what the trend might be
A description of what they were trying to look for showing.
An accurate description of what the visualization is Add a second term to your visualization and discuss
showing quickly what it might be showing.
A plausible explanation of why that trend might have Demonstrate the ability to select different time periods,
happened. regions, etc.
Note: The front page of Google Trends shows a
Wrap-up (5-20 mins) collection of stories compiled by others. To actually use

the tool yourself, you need to enter text into the
“Explore” trends. For more help with Google Trends,
you can see the Google support page on the subject .
Share Data Stories
Once students have developed their charts and
 Discussion
responded to the questions, have them share their “data
Goal
stories” with each other. Provide students a chance to share their findings. Ensure
students are accurately describing trends in the charts and
Each group or individual should only take a minute or so
that their stories or explanations for these trends are
to present their chart and story, after which the class reasonable.
might ask questions or add their own interpretations of
the chart. Good questions include:
Is the story the students told supported by the chart?

Are there other ways to interpret the chart?
Are there additional terms you’d also like to see shown on the chart?
 Remarks
 Teaching Tip
It’s exciting to be able to look at so much data in such a
concise way, and it certainly feels like we’ve seen a lot For sharing, you may want to: Bring the whole class
of good stories here. As we start thinking more about together. Have individuals share with an elbow partner
how we use data, however, we’ll need to make sure or in a small group.
that the assumptions we’re making about our data are It is likely that students are going to want to play with
correct. Google Trends individually, so having them share with a
(Optional) Collect: student activity guides . small group might be less intimidating. However, with
small groups you will need to circulate and be vigilant
Students may want to revise their stories after the next
about ensuring that students are emphasizing the right
lesson. Hold onto their activity guides or ask them to do things and asking critical questions. You might find it
the same so that they can update their assumptions if easier to ensure that students see the right kinds of critical
necessary after the next lesson. questioning as a whole class.
Assessment
Score Activity Guides
Collect and Grade

Have students do peer review
Code Studio: Assessment questions are available on the Code Studio.
Standards Alignment
3.1 - People use computer programs to process information to gain insight and knowledge.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 3: Check Your Assumptions
Research
This lesson asks students to consider carefully the assumptions they Objectives
make when interpreting data and data visualizations. The class
begins by examining how the Google Flu Trends project tried and
failed to use search trends to predict flu outbreaks. They will then read Define the digital divide as the variation in
a report on the Digital Divide which highlights how access to access or use of technology by various
technology differs widely by personal characteristics like race and demographic characteristics.
income. This report challenges a widespread assumption that data Identify assumptions made when drawing
collected online is representative of the population at large. To conclusions from data and data visualizations
practice identifying assumptions in data analysis, students are
provided a series of scenarios in which data-driven decisions are
Preparation
made based on flawed assumptions. They will need to identify the KEY Digital Divide and Checking
assumptions being made (most notably those related to the digital Assumptions
divide) and explain why these assumptions lead to incorrect
conclusions. Links
Purpose Heads Up! Please make a copy of
any documents you plan to share
In this lesson we look deeper into why we separate thewhat from the
with students.
why when looking at data. The main purpose here is to raise
awareness of the assumptions that we (all people) make when looking
For the Students
at data and try to call them out. Some of these assumptions lie hidden
Digital Divide and Checking
beneath the surface and we want to shed some light on them by
Assumptions - Activity Guide
looking at some examples from the news. This is a useful mode of
reflection that will serve students well when doing reflective writing on Make a Copy
the performance tasks. Google Trends Video - Video
Wired - What Can We Learn from the
Analyzing and interpreting data will typically require some Epic Failure of Google Flu Trends -
assumptions to be made about the accuracy of the data and the cause Article
of the relationships observed within it. When decisions are made NY Times - Google Flu Trends: The
based on a collection of data, they will often rest just as much on that Limits of Big Data - Article
set of assumptions about the data as the data itself. Identifying and Nature - When Google Got Flu Wrong -
validating (or disproving) assumptions is therefore an important part of Article
data analysis. Furthermore, clear communication about how data was Time - Google's Flu Project Shows the
interpreted should also include an account of the assumptions made Failings of Big Data - Article
along the way. Harvard Business Review - Google Flu
Trends' Failure Shows Good Data > Big
Agenda Data - Article
Video: Google Flu Trends
Google Flu Trends Failure
Activity (25 mins)
The Digital Divide and Checking Your Assumptions
Part 1: The Digital Divide
Part 2: Checking Your Assumptions
Wrap-up (15 mins)
Assessment
Assessment Posibilities
Extended Learning
Teaching Guide
Video: Google Flu Trends  Discussion
Show this Google Trends Video - Video video, which Goal
Introduce the idea that incorrect assumptions about a
describes how Google used the trending data students
dataset can lead to faulty conclusions.
saw earlier in the unit to predict outbreaks of the flu.
Earlier prediction of flu outbreaks could limit the number
Thinking Prompt: What are the potential beneficial of people who get sick or die from the flu each year.
effects of using a tool like Google Flu Trends? More accurate and earlier detection of flu outbreaks can
 Discuss: Students should share their responses in small ensure resources for combating outbreaks are allocated
groups or as a class. In general, responses should be and deployed earlier (e.g., clinics could be deployed to
centered around the following ideas. affected neighborhoods).
Google Flu Trends Failure

Distribute:
Share one or more of these articles with the class. They detail why Google Flu Trends eventually failed and should serve as
a basis of discussion for some of the potential negative effects of large-scale data analysis.
Wired - What Can We Learn from the Epic Failure of Google Flu Trends - Article
NY Times - Google Flu Trends: The Limits of Big Data - Article
Nature - When Google Got Flu Wrong - Article
Time - Google's Flu Project Shows the Failings of Big Data - Article
Harvard Business Review - Google Flu Trends' Failure Shows Good Data > Big Data - Article
Thinking Prompt:
 Teaching Tip
"Why did Google Flu Trends eventually fail? What
Reading Strategy: Most of these articles are somewhat
assumptions did they make about their data or
more sophisticated in their analysis of the problems with
their model that ultimately proved not to be Google Trends than is necessary for discussion. You may
true?" wish to read one of these articles together as a class and
just touch on the key points outlined below.
Discuss:
Once students have read one of the articles, review the

key points from your article. The most important points about Google Flu trends can be found below:
Google Flu Trends worked well in some instances but often over-estimated, under-estimated, or entirely missed flu
outbreaks. A notable example occurred when Google Flu Trends largely missed the outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus.
Just because someone is reading about the flu doesn’t mean they actually have it.
Some search terms like “high school basketball” might be good predictors of the flu one year but clearly shouldn’t be
used to measure whether someone has the flu.
In general, many terms may have been good predictors of the flu for a while only because, like high school basketball,
they are more searched in the winter when more people get the flu.
Google began recommending searches to users, which skewed what terms people searched for. As a result, the tool
was measuring Google-generated suggested searches as well, which skewed results.
 Transitional Remarks
The amount of data now available makes it very tempting to draw conclusions from it. There are certainly many beneficial
results of analyzing this data, but we need to be very careful. To interpret data usually means making key assumptions. If
those assumptions are wrong, our entire analysis may be wrong as well. Even when you’re not conducting the analysis
yourself, it’s important to start thinking about what assumptions other people are making when they analyze data, too.
Activity (25 mins)
The Digital Divide and Checking Your Assumptions
Distribute: Activity Guide - Digital Divide and Checking Assumptions - Activity Guide
Part 1: The Digital Divide

This activity guide begins with a link to a report from Pew Research which examines the “digital divide.” Students should
look through the visualizations in this report and record responses to the questions found in the activity guide.
Discuss:
In small groups or as a class, students should discuss the answers they have recorded in their activity guides. Key points
for the following discussion include:
Access and use of the Internet differs by income, race, education, age, disability, and geography.
As a result, some groups are over- or under-represented when looking at activity online.
When we see behavior on the Internet, like search trends, we may be tempted to assume that access to the Internet is
universal and so we are taking a representative sample of everyone.
In reality, a “digital divide” leads to some groups being over- or under-represented. Some people may not be on the
Internet at all.
Part 2: Checking Your Assumptions

Students should complete the second half of the activity guide. They are presented a set of scenarios in which data was
used to make a decision. Students will be asked to examine and critique the assumptions used to make these decisions.
Then they will suggest additional data they would like to collect or other ways their decision could be made more reliably.
Wrap-up (15 mins)

Discuss: In small groups or as a class, students should
 Discussion
share their responses on the activity guide. Use this
Goal
opportunity to reinforce a group understanding of what Students should practice identifying when data is being
kinds of assumptions are being made to interpret the interpreted and what assumptions are made to do so, by
data. Some possible types of assumptions are listed sharing their work from the activity guide.
below.
The data collected is representative of the population at large (e.g., ignoring the “digital divide”).
Activity online will lead to activity in the real world (e.g., people expressing interest in a candidate online means they will
vote for him or her in real life).
Data is being collected in the manner intended (e.g., ratings are generated by actual customers, instead of business
owners or robots).
Many other assumptions regarding data are possible.
 Closing Remarks
 Teaching Tip
Would anyone like to revise the explanation
they gave for their google trends research in Leading the Discussion:
the previous lesson? The answer key to the activity guide contains possible
Has what you’ve learned today changed your assumptions that could be made in each data scenario
perspective on the “story” you thought the data presented. In most instances, there will be many other
was telling? possible assumptions. The focus here should be primarily
on building a habit of checking assumptions before
In this course, we will be looking at a lot of data, so it is jumping to conclusions about trends in data.
important early on to get in the habit of recognizing
what assumptions we are making when we interpret
that data.
In general, it is a good idea to call out explicitly your assumptions and think critically about what assumptions
other people are making when they interpret data.
We may not become expert data analysts in this class, and even organizations like Google can make mistakes when
interpreting data. Sometimes, the best we can do is just be honest with ourselves and other people about what
assumptions we’re making, correct our wrong assumptions where we can, and keep an eye out for the assumptions other
people are making when they try to tell us “what the data is saying.”
Assessment
Assessment Posibilities
Code Studio: Assessment questions are available on the Code Studio.
Score or peer review the activity guide:
There is an answer key to the questions listed in the activity guide.
Extended Learning
Share this article with students criticizing inaccurate or misleading ways of using Google Trends to write news stories.
https://medium.com/@dannypage/stop-using-google-trends-a5014dd32588#.dd7bifrl5
Standards Alignment
7.4 - Computing innovations influence and are influenced by the economic, social, and cultural contexts in which they are designed and used.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 4: Rapid Research - Data
Innovations
Project | Research
In this lesson students will conduct a small amount of research to Objectives

explore a computing innovation that leverages the use of data.
Students will research a topic of personal interest and respond to
questions about about how that innovation produces, uses, or Identify a suitable computing innovation for a
consumes data. The lesson is intended to give students practice with research project.
doing research of this nature and provides a small amount of Identify reliable and authoritative sources of
scaffolding to help students figure out what to look for. information about a computing innovation.
Synthesize information taken from multiple
This lesson is intended to be a quick, short version of a performance online sources to create a cohesive
task in which students rapidly do some research and respond in description of a computing innovation.
writing. It might take 2 class days but should not take more. The goal Explain how data drives a specific innovation,
is to generate ideas for exploration later when students complete the both in writing and visually.
actual Explore PT later in the year.
Links
Purpose
Being able to research modern computing innovations and gain Heads Up! Please make a copy of
insight into how those innovations are using data is a key skill of any documents you plan to share
computer scientists. This is the first lesson in which students are
with students.
asked to look at how data is used in a modern computing innovation.
For the Students
Students will learn to look at how data is used with an increasingly
critical eye, but this lesson merely sets the table. Having intuitions Data Innovation One-Pager - Template
about how data is used, or how it’s not used, can improve one’s Make a Copy
judgment about modern technology and other innovations that Rapid Research - Data Innovations -
increasingly use, produce, and rely on massive amounts of data to do Activity Guide Make a Copy
their work. Computer Science is Changing
Everything - Video (download)
Agenda Data and Medicine - Video (download)
The Math Behind Basketball's Wildest
Getting Started (10-15 mins)
Moves - Video (download)
Video - Motivating the research
Activity (90 mins) Vocabulary
Rapid Research - Data Innovations
Day 1 - Choose Innovation, Read and Research One-pager - A business/corporate term for a
Day 2 - Prepare one-pager one-page document that summarizes a large
Wrap Up (5-30 mins) issue, topic or plan.
Presentation (Optional)
Assessment
Teaching Guide
Getting Started (10-15 mins)
Video - Motivating the research
Goal: Develop some ideas (and excitement) about the rapid research project
Video: Show, or have students watch, one of the following videos:
Data and Medicine - Video (6:07)

Computer Science is Changing Everything - Video (4:33 NOTE: this video was also shown in Unit 1)
The Math Behind Basketball's Wildest Moves - Video (12 mins)
The purpose is simply to motivate the upcoming research.
 Remarks
One of the things that many modern innovations have in common is their use of data (often Big Data, but not always). To
explore how innovations use data more in depth you will be completing a rapid research project on a “data innovation”
of your choosing.
Get excited! This is your opportunity to dig deeper into a computing topic that has piqued your interest over the entire
course.
What kinds of things are you interested in?

How does computing affect them?
How is data used to make innovations you’re interested in actually work?
The project mimics some of the things you have to do for theExplore Performance Task and will be useful preparation.
In particular the Explore Performance Task asks you to:
Research a modern computing innovation.

Explain how it uses, produces, or consumes data.
This is exactly what you’ll be doing today!
Activity (90 mins)

Rapid Research - Data Innovations
Distribute: Rapid Research - Data Innovations - Activity Guide and Data Innovation One-Pager - Template
and review as a class.
Below is a suggested schedule for completing the project.

 Teaching Tip
Day 1 - Choose Innovation, Read Differences from the actual Explore PT: The actual
and Research Explore Performance Task will be completed over 8 class
hours. The fact that this schedule is significantly shorter
Review Activity Guide and Rubric: reflects several differences in this Practice PT.
At the beginning of the project, emphasize the Some categories and topics have been supplied ahead
importance of reviewing the one-pager template and of time.
rubric. Students may assume that more is required of The visual students are using does not have to be an
them than is actually the case. original computational artifact
In particular, emphasize that they do not need to create

their artifact themselves, but it must still meet the requirements of this project. Point out that the written component is quite
short. They probably have space for 100-150 words per response.
Choosing Your Innovation: It is recommended that you place a time limit on this process (e.g. 20 minutes). Students
should not leave class after the first day without a topic in mind and ideally with some resources identified. Luckily, in
choosing their topics, students will likely have begun to identify resources they can use in completing their project.
Conducting Your Research: This document is intended to serve primarily as a guide to students for identifying online
sources of information. The skill students need to develop is identifying useful resources on their own and then
synthesizing this information. Being presented with a structured way of doing this means students will have a model for
how to complete their research when completing the actual Explore PT.
The "Key Information to Find" highlights specific terminology from the Explore PT that students will benefit from having
seen earlier in the course.
Day 2 - Prepare one-pager

Identify a Visual: Students need to identify a visual artifact (image, visualization, drawing, chart, video, interview, etc.)
that gives some additional insight into their innovation. Students DO NOT need to make this visual themselves. The goal
is to effectively use a visual to communicate information about a technical topic.
Complete One-Pager: Students should find this aspect of their project most familiar. The prompts are similar in style
and content to prompts students have already seen. Emphasize the need for clarity in their writing, and remind them that
everything must fit on a single page. If they have responded completely to each of the prompts, it is fine to write less.
Sharing/Submission: You may want to collect students’ one-pagers, have them share in small groups, or with the
whole class. Since students were researching something of their own choosing, they might be eager to show what they
found out.
Wrap Up (5-30 mins)

Presentation (Optional)
If time allows, students may wish to have an opportunity to share their one-pagers with one another. Consider other options
like creating a “Data Innovations Museum” by posting links to all their documents in single shared document. Or even print
them out and post them in the room to be reviewed in a gallery walk.
Assessment
Use the rubric provided with the Activity Guide to assess the one-pagers.
Standards Alignment
1.2 - Computing enables people to use creative development processes to create computational artifacts for creative expression or to solve a
problem.
7.1 - Computing enhances communication, interaction, and cognition.
7.4 - Computing innovations influence and are influenced by the economic, social, and cultural contexts in which they are designed and used.
7.5 - An investigative process is aided by effective organization and selection of resources. Appropriate technologies and tools facilitate the
accessing of information and enable the ability to evaluate the credibility of sources.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 5: Identifying People With Data
External Tool
Students begin this lesson by investigating some of the world’s Objectives

biggest data breaches to get a sense for how frequently data
breaches happen within companies and organizations, and what kinds
of data and information is lost or given up. Afterwards, students will Explain privacy concerns that arise through
use the Data Privacy Lab tool to investigate just how easily they could the mass collection of data
be uniquely identified with a few seemingly innocuous pieces of Use online search tools to find and connect
information. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will research information about a person or topic of interest.
themselves online to determine just how much someone could learn Explain how multiple sources of data can be
about them by conducting the same searches and “connecting the combined in order to uncover new knowledge
dots.” or information.
Analyze the personal privacy and security
Purpose concerns that arise with any use of
computational systems.
While there are many potential benefits associated with the collection
and analysis of large amounts of data, these advances pose a Preparation
constant risk to our collective security and privacy. Large-scale data
breaches mean that the details of our personal, professional, and Familiarize yourself with the external web
financial lives may be at risk. In order to prevent personal data from sites and tools involved in this lesson.
being linked to an individual person, personally identifying information, KEY Research Yourself
such as name, address, or identification number, is often removed
from publicly available data. Nevertheless, through the use of
Links
computational analysis, it is often possible to “re-identify” individuals
Heads Up! Please make a copy of
within data, based on seemingly innocuous information. As more of
our lives is digitized, questions of security and privacy become ever
with students.
more prevalent.
Agenda For the Students

World's Biggest Data Breaches
Getting Started (10 mins) Visualization - Web Site
Explore: World’s Biggest Data Breaches Visualization Data Privacy Lab - Web Site
Activity (30 mins) Activity Guide - Research Yourself -
Data Privacy Lab: How easily can you be identified? Activity Guide Make a Copy
Research Yourself Online
Wrap-up
Class shares their findings
Assessment
Extended Learning
Teaching Guide
Explore: World’s Biggest Data Breaches Visualization
Distribute:
 Discussion
Direct students towards the external website: World's Goal
Biggest Data Breaches Visualization - Web Site Students will have been thinking primarily about the
beneficial effects of collecting and analyzing data. This
(link in code studio). They should spend a couple minutes look at data breaches is intended to be a transition into a
browsing through the different breaches there. Ask them set of lessons exploring the potential harmful effects of
to make a few notes about the following questions: collecting data, specifically with regards to privacy and
security.
What kind of data is being lost? And how much?
What kinds of issues could arise from this data getting
into the wrong hands?
Discuss: In small groups or as a class, have students share their findings. The main points to draw out from this
conversation are:
All kinds of personal data, from usernames to social security numbers and credit card information, is lost
fairly regularly.
This information can be used to steal money or identities, get access to classified information, blackmail
people, etc.
Transition:
We’ve spent a lot of time looking at potential benefits of collecting and analyzing data. As we’ve already seen today,
however, there are some risks associated with collecting all of this information. If it falls into the wrong hands or is used in
ways we didn’t intend, there may be serious risks imposed on our privacy or security. We’re going to start looking more
deeply at this problem.
Activity (30 mins)

Data Privacy Lab: How easily can you be identified?
 Remarks
In the data breaches we just looked at, some fairly important pieces of information were stolen. Credit card numbers,
passport information, or government security clearances are obviously not something we’d like to fall into the wrong
hands. Other pieces of information, however, don’t seem that bad. So what if people know your ZIP code? So what if
people know your birthday? This is information we usually share without a second thought.
Distribute:
 Direct students to the Data Privacy Lab - Web Site

 Teaching Tip
(scroll to the bottom of the page).
Students should type in their information (birthday, ZIP If the Data Privacy Lab tool does not work as well for
code, and gender) to determine how many other some individuals, they could try the birthday and ZIP code
people share those characteristics. of a parent or close relative.
In most instances, they will find that those three pieces You should try to keep the Data Privacy Lab tool to 10-15
of information can uniquely identify them. minutes. Make sure to keep in mind the main part of the
activity is the second half when students research
Thinking Prompt: themselves.
"Why is it significant that you are one of only a
few people with your birthday, gender, and ZIP code? What concerns does this raise?"
Discuss:
In small groups or as a full class, students should discuss their responses. The main points to draw out from this
conversation are:
We can be uniquely identified from just a few pieces of information.

Even information we would not normally consider to be “sensitive” can still be used to identify us.
There are security and privacy concerns raised as a result of most information about us being available online.
 Remarks
As we just saw, there are security and privacy issues that are raised, even when small, seemingly unimportant pieces of
information are available online. Most of the time, we don’t actually think about what kinds of information are available
about us, or how someone might connect the dots with that information.
Research Yourself Online

 Activity Guide - Research Yourself
 Distribute: Activity Guide - Research Yourself -
 Teaching Tip
Activity Guide. Students will work individually and
will need access to a computer and the Internet. They Timing the Activity: Students should be given 15-20
will be asked to research themselves online, making minutes to research themselves, filling in their findings on
note of any and all pieces of information they are able the Activity Guide. This activity can likely grow or shrink to
fit the time you have in your period, but leave time for a
to find. Some guidelines follow:
wrap-up discussion at the end of the class.
They should focus their attention on information that Alternate Version: Some students may not have
is already publicly available (e.g., through a Google extensive online presences. In these instances, you can
search, on the public pages of their school website, a ask students to research another member of the
social network, etc.) community (public official, business person, community
leader, etc.) There should still be plenty of fodder for
If students are prevented from accessing some sites discussion later.
on the school’s network, they should still list
information they know is publicly available elsewhere.
Students should try to make connections between the data they find. “If I knew this about me and that about me, then
I’d also know …”
Wrap-up
Class shares their findings
Time permitting it's very interesting to share findings.
Prompt:
 Wrap Up
"What information were you able to find about Goal
yourself? Were you able to make connections This activity is aimed at opening the conversation about
privacy and security in a highly personal way. The main
in the data you collected to figure out anything
goal of this closing discussion is just to share what
else? Were you concerned about anything you students found about themselves.
were able to find?"
Discuss: Students should share their findings, either in

small groups or as a class. The main points to draw out  Teaching Tip
from this conversation are below: Rather than a whole-class presentation you might put
students in pairs or small groups. This would reduce both
A great deal of information about us is freely
the time needed and potentially sensitive information being
and easily available online. over-exposed.
By making connections in this data or to other
sources of data. it is possible to form a more
complete picture of who we are and what we do.
There are security and privacy concerns raised by the data we post online about ourselves.
Assessment
See the examplar response to the worksheet. Available in the teacher only area lesson 3 in code studio.
See other assessment items in code studio.
Extended Learning
1. You may want to check out Chapter 2 of Blown to Bits , which goes into some depth about issues and concerns with
data and privacy. In particular, pages 32-35 are related to this lesson.
2. It takes a bit more reading but the Data Privacy Lab project out of Harvard has another fascinating (and scary) project
called The Data Map
You could take a lot of the information there for more rigorous research into how data can be used to identify people
Standards Alignment
3.3 - There are trade offs when representing information as digital data.
7.3 - Computing has a global affect -- both beneficial and harmful -- on people and society.

NI - Networks & the Internet
UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 6: The Cost of Free
Web Lab
This lesson focuses on the economic and consumer concerns around Objectives
apps and websites that collect and track data about you in exchange
for providing you a service free of cost. Often the quality of the service
itself is dependent on having access to data about many people and Explain how and why personal data is
their behavior. The main take-away of the lesson is that students exchanged for use of free software.
should be more informed consumers of the technology around them. Explain some of the privacy and economic
They should be able to explain some of the tradeoffs between tradeoffs involved in the collection and use of
maintaining personal privacy and using innovative software free of personal data.
cost. Describe the ways and reasons organizations
collect information about individuals.
Purpose Read and critically evaluate a data privacy
policy.
Many consumers are unaware, or lack a sophisticated understanding,
of how information about us is being collected and tracked by the Preparation
technology we use every day. This issue goes beyond instances
when data is stolen from companies or organizations we willingly Review the reading
provide it to. Instead, using computational tools, our movements Review the teaching tips related to group
through the physical and virtual world are being automatically tracked, work
stored, and analyzed. Cookies in our browsers keep a record of our EXEMPLAR Privacy Policies
movements on the Internet. Companies trade access to free tools and
apps for the rights to track the data we upload to them. Advertisers
Links
develop personalized profiles of potential customers to better target
advertising. Governments monitor traffic across the Internet at scales
unimaginable without the use of computers. Yet we live in a world that
with students.
increasingly relies on these digital tools, services and products. Most
companies make great efforts to balance the tradeoffs between utility
For the Students
and privacy, but the issues can be tricky and raise confounding ethical
Activity Guide - Privacy Policies - Activity
dilemmas. We must now grapple with a question of just how much we
Guide Make a Copy
value our privacy, and whether it is even possible to maintain in a
digitized world. The Future of Big Data - Video
WSJ article [original] - External Article
Agenda WSJ article [annotated] - Article
Make a Copy
Cost of Free App
Video - The Future of Big Data
Thinking Prompt: What do you know about data
collected about you every day?
Quick Poll and Recap of Findings:
Activity 1 (30 mins)
Part 1 - Reading: Wall Street Journal: Users Get as
Much as They Give
Part 2 - Read a real data privacy policy
Wrap-up
Where do you stand?
Would you install this “free app”?
Assessment
Extended Learning
Teaching Guide
Video - The Future of Big Data
 Opening Remarks
Yesterday we looked at ways that data we willingly give away could be lost and used to compromise our security.
What we often don’t think about, however, is just how much data is being collected about us without us even knowing it.
Especially as computers become ever more powerful and ubiquitous, it is becoming easier for vast amounts of data about
us to be collected and for it to be used for a variety of purposes.
Video:
The Future of Big Data - Video

Video is also linked in Code Studio for Students
Transition:
The video mentions how your phone and websites you use track certain things about you. Today we’re going to find out a
little bit more about it. Here are the primary questions we’re interested in:
Why is this tracking necessary? What are the benefits and drawbacks?
How can you find out what kind of data is tracked about you and by whom?
Thinking Prompt: What do you know about data collected about you
every day?
Prompt:
"Write down 2 or 3 websites, web services, or apps that you use the most or rely on the most to stay
connected to friends and family, or use for “productivity” like school work."
"For each website / service / app, fill in the

 Types of sites
following information - just what you know off
the top of your head from your own experience Here is a list for you to help jog your students' memory.
or memory": Encourage students to try to pick 2 or 3 different types, but
also ones they've actually used.
Info to write down for each site:
Education: Code.org, Khan Academy,
Students can just complete this in a journal or Codecademy.com
notebook. They should make a little table in order Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
to compare side-by-side Snapchat
1. Name of Website / Service Online store: Amazon, Target, Walmart
2. Do you have an account , or need to login? Search: Google, Bing
3. What kinds of data does (or could) this site Maps: MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, Google Maps
potentially collect about you? Productivity: MS Office Online, Google Docs
4. Do you know if this data is shared with other Mail & communication: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail,
people, companies or organizations? (If so, which Skype, Google Hangouts
ones?) Streaming sites: Netflix, Spotify, Pandora
5. Do you know how you would find out what data is Gaming sites: Steam, Xbox Live
collected or how it’s shared? Banks and financial institutions: Chase, Citibank
Give students about 5 minutes to write things

down.
Quick Poll and Recap of Findings:

Show of hands: How many of the apps that you chose were free?
This will likely be all or almost all the apps .
Whip around: Name one piece of data the app you chose could potentially collect or know about you.
Try to get out as many different types as possible.
Wow, that’s a lot of data! If this stuff is “free,” but these companies make a lot of money, then it stands to reason that
we are “paying” for these services with our data, because that’s the only thing we’re giving them in return for a service.
What is the monetary value of your personal data?
How is it used to make money? What are the tradeoffs? Let’s learn a little bit more.

Part 1 - Reading: Wall Street Journal: Users Get as Much as They Give
 Distribute:
 Goal of Reading WSJ
Wall Street Journal: It’s Modern Trade: Web Users article
Get as Much as They Give We want students to understand a bit about how collecting
data is part of the business model for many apps /
Original article on wsj.com: WSJ article [original] websites and that we often trade our personal data in
- External Article order to get these services for free.
Annotated/Jigsaw shorter version for jigsaw option: It’s slightly complicated by the fact that the services are
WSJ article [annotated] - Article overall better because of how many people use them while
sharing data. But it does raise privacy concerns.
You can have students read individually or break it up to
“jigsaw” it. Either option in the end will probably take the
same amount of time. (See teaching tip for more info)  Teaching Tip
Discuss: Ask students in small groups to discuss what Individual reading The full article is about 1200 words. It
they learned from the reading and come up with a quick would probably take about 5-10 minutes for a person to
“temperature check”: read it. You could read quietly and then put students into
small groups for the discussion.
"Right now, which way are you leaning? Too
Jigsaw We’ve prepared an annotated version that breaks
little privacy? Right amount?"
up the article into 4 sections. It’s recommended that the
"Are you willing to give up some privacy (and reading be divided up three ways: Everyone should read
potentially some security) to have free access the paragraphs denoted “Intro and Background” and then
to modern innovative tools - do you trust assign each of the remaining 3 sections to groups of
companies to be good stewards of your data?" students.
"Are you concerned? Do you think too much of Use whatever jigsaw reading strategy you like so that
your data is out of your control? Do you think students understand the key ideas of the reading.
too much personally identifiable data is given
over to someone else?"
"What other questions do you have?"
Notes for the discussion:
In the discussion, it’s worth noting the source of the article - The Wall Street Journal - and asking students to consider
whether or not this information has a “pro-business” slant.
This is a very complex issue. The important thing is whether or not students are seeing both sides of the issue.
Try not to let students take the middle ground - “just the right amount of privacy” - as it’s an easy out. Press them to
consider a specific case of one app or website and make a determination about that.
Caution: Try to keep the conversation focused on economic terms and the central question of “What is the cost of
‘free’?” It can be easy for this slip into a debate about privacy versus utility, in terms of government access to data,
espionage, terrorism, etc. These are extremely important issues as well, but the conversation might get unwieldy. The
focus of this lesson is about students becoming more informed consumers of the technology they use.

Part 2 - Read a real data privacy policy
 Goal of reading a privacy policy
When you use most apps, websites, and social
networks, they are collecting information about We want students to see that it is possible to look up what
you in exchange for providing you a service, like data companies are collecting and who they share it with
connecting with your friends and sharing photos. and why.
Sometimes the service itself, like GPS, needs to track As an informed consumer, you should at least understand
you just to be a useful app. the issues well enough to make informed choices or take
Other times, the data collected is useful to the company action.
for making money.
Most of the companies that do track your data work hard to balance the tradeoffs between providing you with a service for
free and the inherent risks such data collection poses to your personal privacy and security.
But what do they actually collect, and how do they use that data?
Let’s find out.
Most of these companies and organizations (the ethical ones) have a clear, well-written privacy policy. You’re going to
pick one to investigate and report back.
 Activity Guide - Privacy Policies
Distribute:
Activity Guide - Privacy Policies - Activity Guide
Prompt:
"Pick one of the apps / websites that you chose at the beginning of class, and go find and read through
that site’s privacy policy"
Here is a synopsis of what's in the activity guide for students to research.
Students are asked to note what information the site says they collect, how they are using it, and (hopefully) how they
are protecting it.
The actual activity guide provides a bit more guidance for students about how to find answers to these questions.
1. Choose a Website and Find the Data Privacy Policy
2. What kinds of data are being collected? How many different kinds of data?
3. What service or feature is enabled by the data they are collecting? Why are they collecting it in the first place?
4. Who else is given access to that data? How are they using it?
5. Can you get access to your own data? Can you modify what is collected or used, or delete your data if you wish?
On a scale of 1-4, rate how comfortable you are with this company’s data policy? 1 - very uncomfortable 4-very
comfortable
Discussion / Share out:
Put students into groups of 3 to share what they found with each other.
Each group should report out 4 things for the policies reviewed in the group
1. The names of the companies / organizations / websites reviewed by the group

2. Notable similarities and differences in the kinds of data collected
3. Just the number: How many privacy policies let you access, modify or delete your personal data?
4. Just the number(s): How did you rate the policies on how comfortable you were?
Teacher should take note of the “comfort ratings.”
Prompt:
"What’s your “temperature” on data collection now? Are you leaning toward more privacy? Or the
same/less as there is now?"
Wrap-up
Where do you stand?
Prompt:
"This lesson is entitled The Cost of ‘Free.’ What does that mean to you now?"
"How would you explain The Cost of ‘Free’ to a family member, or person you just
met, if you had only 60 seconds?"
Would you install this “free app”?

As a final thought, what is your reaction to this app installation screen? (You can see a higher-
resolution version in Code Studio.)
What questions do you have?

What would you want to know?
What would you do to find that out?
Bottom line: Would you install this app?
Assessment
To get an idea of what to look for in the activity guides see thestudent exemplar in the teacher only area for Unit 4
lesson 4 here: EXEMPLAR - Activity Guide - Privacy Policies - Exemplar
Extended Learning
Articles in the news: You may choose to use the following articles to help deepen students' understanding of the pros
and cons of the utility vs. privacy dilemmas that arise thanks to the massive amounts of data generated by modern
technologies.
Share / Find Articles on the Forum: This list is provided as a starting point. We recommend you also check recent
headlines for articles that are timely and pertinent. If you find a strong article we recommend you post a link in the forum
for this lesson. We therefore also recommend you check the forum for articles your colleagues have shared.
Leaning Pro-Utility Leaning Pro-Privacy
1. Wall Street Journal: It's Modern 1. Apple: A Message to Our Customers

Trade: Web Users Get as Much as (Apple challenges order to give
They Give government data about terrorist shooter)
2. Business News Daily: How

2. The Guardian: How Taylor Swift showed
Businesses Are Collecting Data
us the scary future of facial recognition
(And What They're Doing With It)
Leaning Pro-Utility Leaning Pro-Privacy
3. ZDNet: A case against online

3. CNN: Google knows too much about you
privacy
4. U.S. News: The Case for Internet 4. TechRepublic: Why "Nothing to Hide"
Surveillance misrepresents online privacy
5. Kaspersky: 10 Cool Big Data 5. NPR: Facebook, Google Draw Scrutiny

Projects Over Apps That Collected Data From Teens
6. Fortune: Boston is using big data

6. Politico: We Are All Big Brother Now
to solve traffic jams
7. Tech Times: Google Play Store contains

7. Maclean's: The real reason crime
over 3000 Android apps for kids that
is falling so fast
improperly collect data
8. U.S. News: Relax and Learn to

8. BBC: Is Privacy Dead in an Online World?
Love Big Data
9. LinkedIn: The Ethics of Privacy: 9. Wired: App Permissions Don't Tell Us

The Benefits of Data Gathering Nearly Enough About Our Apps
Longer Reading
Blown to Bits - Chapter 2 - Naked in the Sunlight: Privacy Lost, Privacy Abandoned
Program or Be Programmed - Chapter 7: Social - Do Not Sell Your Friends
Standards Alignment

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 7: Simple Encryption
Widget
In this lesson, students are introduced to the need for encryption and Objectives
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. Explain why encryption is an important need
Students should become well-acquainted with idea that in an age of for everyday life on the Internet.
powerful computational tools, techniques of encryption will need to be Crack a message encrypted with a Caesar
more sophisticated. The most important aspect of this lesson is to cipher using a Caesar Cipher Widget
understand how and why encryption plays a role in all of our lives Crack a message encrypted with random
every day on the Internet, and that making good encryption is not substitution using Frequency Analysis
trivial. Students will get their feet wet with understanding the Explain the weaknesses and security flaws of
considerations that must go into making strong encryption in the face substitution ciphers
of powerful computational tools that can be used to crack it. The need
for secrecy when sending bits over the Internet is important for
Preparation
anyone using the Internet. Examine both versions of the widget
KEY Reading Guide for Encryption
Purpose (optional)
This lesson is the first in a series of lessons about cryptography and
encryption. “Encryption” is a process for transforming a message so
Links
that the original is “hidden” from anyone who is not the intended
recipient. Encryption is not just for the military and spies anymore. We
use encryption everyday on the Internet, primarily to conduct
with students.
commercial transactions, and without it our economy might grind to a
halt.
For the Teacher
This lesson gives students a first taste of the kind of thinking that goes Caesar Cipher Widget - 2018 - Widget
into encrypting messages in the face of computational tools. Frequency Analysis Widget - 2018 -
Computational tools dramatically increase the strength and complexity Widget
of the algorithms we use to encrypt information, but these same tools
also increase our ability to crack an encryption. Developing strong Vocabulary
encryption relies on knowledge of problems that are “hard” for
computers to solve, and using that knowledge to encrypt Caesar Cipher - a technique for encryption
messages.As a resource, you may wish to read all of Chapter 5 of that shifts the alphabet by some number of
Blown to Bits. It provides social context which you may want to characters
bring to your classroom. Cipher - the generic term for a technique (or
algorithm) that performs encryption
Agenda Cracking encryption - When you attempt to
decode a secret message without knowing all
Getting Started (15 mins) the specifics of the cipher, you are trying to
The critical role of encryption in everyday life "crack" the encryption.
Classic Encryption - The Caesar Cipher Decryption - a process that reverses
Activity (35 mins) encryption, taking a secret message and
Part 1 - Crack a Caesar Cipher reproducing the original plain text
Part 2 - Crack a Random Substitution Cipher Encryption - a process of encoding
Wrap-up messages to keep them secret, so only
Assessment "authorized" parties can read it.
Extended Learning Random Substitution Cipher - an
encryption technique that maps each letter of
the alphabet to a randomly chosen other
letters of the alphabet.
Teaching Guide
The critical role of encryption in everyday life
Thinking Prompt:
 Discussion
"In your daily life what things do you or other Goal
Kick the day off with a very quick (5 mins) Think-Pair-
people rely on keeping a secret? Who are
Share to activate students' prior knowledge about
these secrets being kept from? How are these encryption and why we want it.
things kept secret?"
Motivate the need for means of encrypting information as it
Share: travels across the Internet.
Provide a couple minutes for students to share their Potential areas to discuss:
ideas with their classmates. Social interactions (e.g., a surprise birthday party)
Ask them to brainstorm as many areas as they can A play in a sports game, your hand in a card game
where they or other people rely on secrecy. Personal identification information, PIN numbers, etc.
Try to touch on as many different people and contexts Business and government negotiations
as possible. Military activity
 Remarks
Secrecy is a critical part of our lives, in ways big and  Content Corner
small. As our lives increasingly are conducted on the
Internet, we want to be sure we can maintain the If necessary recall some of the facts we learned in Unit 1
privacy of our information and control who has access while using the Internet Simulator.
to privileged information.
The Internet is not inherently secure.
Digital commerce, business, government operations, Packets traveling across the Internet move through
and even social networks all rely on our ability to keep
information from falling into the wrong hands. many routers, each of which could be owned by
different people or organizations.
Recall: As we saw with our activities on the Internet
So we should assume all information traveling across
Simulator the internet is NOT secure
the Internet to be public, as if written on a postcard and
We need a way to send secret messages...
sent through the mail.
Classic Encryption - The Caesar

Cipher
Background:
Many of the ideas we use to keep secrets in the digital age are far older than the Internet. The process of
encoding a plain text message in some secret way is called Encryption
For example in Roman times Julius Caesar is reported to have encrypted messages to his soldiers and
generals by using a simple alphabetic shift - every character was encrypted by substituting it with a
character that was some fixed number of letters away in the alphabet.
As a result an alphabetic shift is often referred to as the Caesar Cipher.
Prompt:
This message was encrypted using a Caesar Cipher (an "alphabetic shift").
Let's see how long it takes you to decode this message (remember it's just a shifting of the alphabet):
Display or write this on the board
serr cvmmn va gur pnsrgrevn
Give students about 3-5 minutes to work on cracking the message.

ANSWER: "free pizza in the cafeteria" - the
 Teaching Tip
A-Z alphabet is shifted 13 characters.
Recap: Resist the urge to give students a tool or device to aid in

cracking this message -- that's coming in the next part of
With this simple encryption technique it only took a few the lesson! Part of the point here is that it's possible
minutes to decode a small message. without tools. With tools it becomes trivial, as we'll see
What if the message were longer BUT you had a next.
computational tool to help you?! If students are struggling to start here are a few strategy
suggestions:
Find a small word and try alphabetic shifts until it's clear
Activity (35 mins) that it's an English word
Remember the letters aren't randomly substituted - the
 Cracking Substitution Ciphers alphabet is just shifted.
Once you have found the amount of shift the rest comes
In this set of activities students will use two different
easily.
versions of a simple widget in Code Studio to "crack" a
messages encoded with substitution ciphers, including an
alphabetic shift and random substitution.
 Content Corner
Transition to Code Studio
If you'd like your students to read a little bit about
Historical Cryptography and cracking ciphers, this
Part 1 - Crack a Caesar Cipher lesson and the next one about the Vigenere cipher more or
less follow the sequence presented in Blown to Bits,
The instructions for this activity are simple - there is no Chapter 5 - Reading pp. 165-173.
handout: Substitution Ciphers and Frequency analysis pp. 165-
Put students in pairs/partners 169
Secret Keys and One-Time Pads (Vigenere Cipher) pp.
Goal: Select a message encrypted with a caesar
169-173
cipher and use the provided widget to "crack" it.
Experiment with the tool - Click things, poke around,

figure out what it's doing.  Teaching Tip
Choose one of the messages from the pull
down menu and try to crack it using the tool. Don't rush it, but don't linger on cracking caesar ciphers.
Presenting and cracking a caesar cipher should go pretty
If you want to, enter you own message, encrypt it,
fast.
and have a friend decrypt it.
The widget is pretty self-explanatory. Let students figure
Give students about 5 minutes to get into the tool out how to use it on their own.
and crack a few messages The goal here is make points about cracking encryption
Aided with the tool, cracking an alphabetic shift is with computational tools, and start to use some common
terms.
trivial.
Once you've done one, it only takes a matter of You should move on to cracking random substitution
relatively quickly.
seconds to do others.
Optional - Pause and Recap:
There is a page in Code studio which recaps terminology (encryption, decryption, crack, cipher, Caesar ciper) and poses
the next problem.
You may optionally pause here to recap and go over terms if you like or just let students proceed (see activity part 2
below).
Part 2 - Crack a Random Substitution Cipher

After re-capping the first activity make sure students understand the following before proceeding:
Cracking a Caesar cipher is easy...trivial with a computational tool like the one we used.
The next step is to make the encryption slightly harder...
New Challenge:
What if instead of shifting the whole alphabet, we mapped every letter of the alphabet to a random
different letter of the alphabet? This is called a random substitution cipher.
The new version of the widget you'll see is a more sophisticated version of the encryption tool that
shows you lots of different stuff.
But what it does is bit of a mystery! Let's check it out...
 Get Cracking
Have students click to the next bubble to see the
 Use a Discovery-based approach
frequency analysis version of the widget. (It should
look like the screen shown below) REMINDER: Discovery-based introduction of tools
in a nutshell:
Goal: let students explore for 5-10 minutes to see if
they can discover what the tool is showing them and Get students into to the tool without much or any
allowing them to do. introduction
Give students working in partners a fixed amount of
The tasks laid out for students in code studio are:
time (5 minutes or so) to poke around and see if they
Figure out what is going on in this new version of the can figure out what it does and doesn’t do – typically
tool this might be presented as a mystery worth
What information is being presented to you? investigating
Figure out what the the tool let's you do Ask the group to report what they found
As usual: you can't break it. So click on things, poke Teacher fill in any gaps or explanations of how the tool
around. works afterwards
If you figure it out you might be able to crack a This widget, like all others, are meant as a learning tool.
message encoded with random substitution. You cannot break it so you are encouraged to let students
play and investigate to figure out how the tools work.
These discovery-based methods of introducing tools have
been tested in professional development and have
worked well for teachers who use this curriculum. This
method is effective for a few reasons, but overall students
find this approach more engaging and fun, and they tend
to be more receptive to, and motivated to hear,
explanations of how the tool works after trying to “solve
the mystery” themselves.
After some exploration time regroup to clarify
what the tool is and how it works.
If necessary point out to students that the next level in code studio (the one after the frequency analysis tool) explains
a little bit about how frequency analysis works and suggests a few strategies for how to get started.
Give students about 15-20 minutes to crack one of the messages.
If they finish there are more to try.

Students can enter their own messages, do a random substitution to encrypt it, then copy/paste the encrypted version
and see if a friend can crack it.
It is possible to get pretty proficient at cracking these messages with the tool.
Wrap-up
As part of wrap up the major points we want to draw out are:
Encryption is essential for every day life and activity

The "strength" of encryption is related to how easy it is to crack a message, assuming adversary knows the technique but
not the exact "key"
A random substitution cipher is very crackable by hand though it might take some time, trial and error.
However, when aided with computational tools, a random substitution cipher can be cracked by a novice in a matter of
minutes.
Simple substitution ciphers give insight into encryption algorithms, but as we've seen fall way short when a potential
adversary is aided with computational tools...our understanding must become more sophisticated.
If we are to create a secure Internet, we will need to develop tools and protocols which can resist the enormous
computational power of modern computers.
Here are a couple of thought-provoking prompts you can use to bring closure to the lesson and as an avenue to draw out
the points above. Choose one or more.
Prompts:
How much easier is it to crack a caesar cipher than a random substitution cipher? Can you put a number on
it?
For Caesar's Cipher there are only 25 possible ways to shift the alphabet. Worst case, you only need to
try 25 different possibilites. A random substitution cipher has MANY more possibilities (26 factorial =
4x10 26 possibilities). However, as we learned, with frequency analysis we can avoid having to try all of
them blindly.
Was it difficult to crack a Random Substitution cipher? Did it take longer than you thought? shorter? Why?
Computational tools aid humans in the implementation of encryption, decryption, and cracking
algorithms. In other words, using a computer changes the speed and complexity of the types of
encryption we can do, but it also increases our ability to break or circumvent encryption.
Any encryption cipher is an algorithm for transforming plaintext into ciphertext. What about the other way
around? Can you write out an algorithm for cracking a Ceasar cipher? What about a random substitution
cipher?
An algorithm for cracking a Caesar cipher is pretty easy - for each possible alphabetic shift, try it, see if
the words come out as english.
An algorithm for cracking random substitution is trickier and more nunanced. There might not be a
single great answer but through thinking about it you realize how tricky it is to codify human intelligence
and intuition for doing something like frequency analysis into a process that a machine can follow. It
probably requires some human intervention which is an interesting point to make.
Recall that in RFC 3271, “The Internet is for Everyone” Vint Cerf wrote the following. What did he mean by
"cryptographic technology?" What does it mean to you now?
Internet is for everyone - but it won't be if its users cannot protect their privacy and the confidentiality of
transactions conducted on the network. Let us dedicate ourselves to the proposition that cryptographic
technology sufficient to protect privacy from unauthorized disclosure should be freely available,
applicable and exportable.
Review of Terminology -- you can use this opportunity to review new vocabulary introduced in the activity
and respond to questions students may have encountered during the activity.
Definitions of cryptography, encryption, decryption, cracking/breaking an encryption, cipher, etc.
Assessment
Questions (also included in Code Studio):
1. What is a Caesar cipher?
2. What is the “key” to a Caesar Cipher that someone needs to know (or discover) to decrypt the message?
a) A secret word only know by Caesar.
b) The number of characters to shift each letter in the alphabet.

c) The letter that occurs most often in the encrypted message.
d) The day of the month that the encrypted message was sent.
3. The Caesar Cipher has 25 different shifts to try. How many possibilities are there to try in a random substitution cipher?
a) 26
b) 26 × 25
c) 26 × 25 × 24 ×···× 3 × 2 x 1
d) 2626
Extended Learning
Read Blown to Bits
 Teaching Tips
Read pp. 165-169 of Blown to Bits, Chapter 5 -
Reading. Students should be encouraged to chat with their partner
while completing the worksheet. The questions are fairly
Answer the questions provided in the reading guide
straightforward and the point is more to use the questions
and worksheet Reading Guide for Encryption - as a guide to the reading, than to find all the answers as
Worksheet quickly as possible.
For teachers: KEY Reading Guide for
Encryption (optional)
More Blown to Bits
The earlier sections of Chapter 5 of Blown to Bits make reference to the significance of and controversies surrounding
encryption in the aftermath of September 11th. This reading may be a useful tool for further introducing the impact of
cryptography on many aspects of modern life.
Ask students to review the history of their Internet browsing and calculate roughly what percentage they conduct with the
assumption that it is “private.” Do they have any way of being sure this is the case? Are there any websites they visit
where they feel more confident in the secrecy of their traffic than others? Are they justified in this conclusion?
Standards Alignment
CI - Community, Global, and Ethical Impacts
CL - Collaboration
CPP - Computing Practice & Programming
CT - Computational Thinking

1.2 - Computing enables people to use creative development processes to create computational artifacts for creative expression or to solve a
problem.
6.3 - Cybersecurity is an important concern for the Internet and the systems built on it.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 8: Encryption with Keys and
Passwords
Widget
In this lesson, students learn about the relationship between Objectives

cryptographic keys and passwords. Students explore the Vigenère
cipher with a widget to examine how a cryptographic "key" can be
used to encrypt and decrypt a message. Then, students use a tool Explain the relationship between
that shows them about how long it would take to crack a given cryptographic keys and passwords.
password using a standard desktop computer. Students experiment Explain in broad terms what makes a key
with what makes a good password and answer questions about the difficult to “crack.”
“human components” of cybersecurity. Reason about strong vs. weak passwords
using a tool that shows password strength.
Purpose Understand that exponential growth is related
to an encryption algorithm’s strength.
Cryptography and encryption are important and far-reaching fields Explain how and why the Vigenère cipher is a
within computer science. This lesson begins to get students’ feet wet stronger form of encryption than plain
with the human side of cybersecurity: choosing good passwords substitution.
through an exploration of the classic Vigenère Cipher. We also Explain properties that make for a good key
learn that the Vigenère cipher is actually susceptible to frequency when using the Vigenère Cipher.
analysis (though at first glance it is not) and in subsequent lessons we
learn that better methods are used today. Preparation
Strong encryption techniques are typically publicly known algorithms, Explore the Vigenere Cipher Widget in
but have mathematical properties which ensure that the original Code Studio
message cannot easily be retrieved. These techniques typically Familiarize yourself with the
feature a secret “key” or piece of information that is used when "howsecureismypassword.net" site.
encrypting the message. While the algorithm can be publicly known, (Optional) Print out worksheets (links in
the secret key is not. The art of encryption is coming up with an Code Studio)
algorithm that 1) makes the message undecipherable without the key KEY Exploring the Vigenere Cipher
and 2) is such that the key should only be discoverable through an
Widget
exhaustive search of all possible keys, rather than through some other KEY Keys and Passwords
analytical technique.
In this lesson we focus on making a good key, while in subsequent Links

lessons we learn more about problems and algorithms that are
computationally hard. Guessing a random sequence of 200 Heads Up! Please make a copy of
characters, for example, is computationally hard, because there is no any documents you plan to share
known way to approach the problem besides trying the trillions and with students.
trillions of possible character combinations.
For the Teacher
Agenda The Vigenere Cipher - 2018 - Widget
How Secure Is My Password? 2018 -
Code Studio Page
Think - Pair - Share
Encryption: Algorithms v. Keys For the Students
Activity 1 (30 mins) Exploring the Vigenere Cipher Widget -
Explore the Vigenère Cipher Widget Worksheet Make a Copy
Recap: Properties of strong encryption Keys and Passwords - Worksheet
Activity 2 (20 mins) Make a Copy
Computationally Hard Problems -- How good is your The Internet: Encryption & Public Keys -
password? Video (download)
Wrap-up (10-15 mins) (Optional) How Not to Get Hacked -
Video: Encryption and Public Keys Resource
(Optional) How Not to Get Hacked by Code.org
Assessment Vocabulary
Extended Learning
Computationally Hard - a "hard' problem
Optional Lessons
for a computer is one in which it cannot arrive
at a solution in a reasonable amount of time.
Teaching Guide
 Remarks
 Discussion
In the previous lesson you saw how relatively easy it Goal
was to crack a substitution cipher with a computational Provide a quick (about 5 minutes) justification for the
tool. practice of cracking ciphers, while reviewing relevant
vocabulary. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will
Today we’ll try to crack a different code to see what it’s discuss other reasons we might try to crack a cipher,
like. Beforehand, however, we should consider why namely to ensure that it is difficult to do!
someone might want to crack a cipher in the first place.
Here are some other points that might come out:
Think - Pair - Share People in the field of counterterrorism make a living

by trying to crack the codes of other nations. Many
Prompt:
attribute the success of the Allies in WWII to our ability
"Are there ethical reasons to try to crack to crack the Enigma code and uncover the plans of the
secret codes?" Germans.
Give students a few minutes to write down a response Others may try to crack more abstract codes that are
and discuss with a neighbor. not written by humans, searching for patterns within
DNA models in order to understand their nature and be
Discussion able to describe the nature of humanity.
Have students quickly share out reasons they came It’s useful to try to crack your own codesto see how
up with. strong they really are.
There are a lot of different reasons that a person may There are many other reasons related to mathematical
want to crack a code. Some of them are more ethical exploration, pattern recognition, etc.
(legal) than others.

Encryption: Algorithms v. Keys  Misconception Alert
Today, we will attempt to crack codes, paying particular There’s a common misconception that “cracking” and
attention to the processes and algorithms that we use to “decrypting” are interchangeable terms.
do so. Decrypting is just using an algorithm to undo the
So, before starting today we want to make sure that we encryption. It's like using a key to unlock a lock. It’s
distinguish between an encryption algorithm and an what the sender is expecting the intended recipient to
encryption key do to recover the original message.
Cracking is more like detective work - it's like trying to
An Encryption algorithm is some method of doing pick a lock - using various methods to try to figure out
encryption. what the secret message is without having or knowing
The Encryption key is a specific input that dictates the decryption "key" ahead of time.
how to apply the method and can also be used to
decrypt the message. Some people might say "What is
the key to unlocking this message?"
For example:
The Caesar Cipher is an encryption algorithm that involves shifting the alphabet
The amount of alphabetic shift used to encode the message is the key
When you are cracking the Caesar Cipher you are trying to figure out how much the alphabet was shifted - you are
trying to discover the key.
Prompt:
"If random substitution is an algorithm for encryption, what is the key to a random subsitution cipher?"
A: The key is the actual letter-to-letter mapping that was used to encode the message - it can also be used to decrypt.
 Transitional Remarks
 Discussion
So, There is a difference between the algorithm (how to Goal
execute the encryption and decryption) and key (the Quickly review what a “key” is in a cryptographic method
secret piece of information). and distinguish it from the Algorithm
In encryption you should always assume that your

'enemy' knows the encryption algorithm and  Content Corner
has access to the same tools that you do.
Perhaps counter-intuitively, publicly known encryption
What makes encryption REALLY strong is making it algorithms are often more secure, since they have been
hard to guess or crack the “key,” even if the exposed to a much more rigorous review by the computer
“enemy” knows the encryption technique you're science community. Making an encryption algorithm public
using. allows computer scientists to verify the security of the
technique either through mathematical proof, or by trying
Today we’ll learn a little more about it and about keys to crack it themselves.
and their relationship to passwords you use every
day.

Explore the Vigenère Cipher Widget
Go to Code Studio
 Teaching Tips
Distribute: Exploring the Vigenere Cipher The Vigenere Cipher Widget is another fun tool to mess
Widget - Worksheet around with.
Students should click on the The Vigenere Cipher - The key take-aways for students are:
Widget A well-chosen key makes a difference - there are
certain keys that don’t produce good results.
Use the worksheet as a guide for exploring the widget.
We’re approaching much stronger encryption
The goals of this activity are: because we don’t need to keep the encryption
Understand how the Vigenère Cipher Algorithm works method a secret.
Understand why simple frequency analysis doesn’t For example, if I told my enemy that I encrypted a
work against this cipher message with the Vigenère cipher, my enemy would
Figure out what makes for a good v. bad secret key still have to do a virtually impossible amount of work
to crack the code.
The activity guide asks students to: Even if I told my enemy the length of the key I used,
Part 1: Explore the Widget as long as that length is sufficiently large, it would
still leave my enemy basically randomly guessing the
Students are asked to:
key. (Even for this simplified tool, if the key is 10
Jump into the tool and poke around letters, then there are 26^10 possible keys, ~141
Figure out what it's doing trillion.)
The worksheet gives a few directed tasks: Try to keep students’ focus on the properties and
relationships of the keys to the strength of the
Encrypt a few different messages using different
encryption.
secret keys
Decrypt a message
Find a “bad” secret key
Find a “good” secret key
Try to decrypt without knowing the key
Part 2: Answer Questions
Students are given space to write answers to these questions.

You can find sample responses in the KEY - Exploring the Vigenere Cipher Widget - Answer Key
Describe in your own words what the Vigenère Cipher Algorithm is doing.
What makes for a good v. bad secret key using the Vigenère cipher?
Compare and Contrast the difference between a substitution cipher (Caesar or Random) and Vigenere, using the
message “I think I can I think I can I think I can” to explain why Vigenère is a stronger form of encryption than a
substitution cipher.
Will frequency analysis work to crack the Vigenère cipher? Why or why not?
(paraphrase) Is it easier to crack a message if you know that it was encrypted with the Vigenère Cipher Widget?
(paraphrase) Is it easier to crack a message if you know that it was encrypted with the Vigenère Cipher Widgetand
that the key was 10 characters long?
Recap: Properties of strong encryption

You may wish to review students' responses on the activity guide at this point. Or you can move that to the wrap-up. We'd
like to make a few points about encryption before moving to the next activity...
Prompt:
"From what you've seen what are the properties of the Vigenere Cipher that make it harder to crack? In
other words, if you had to crack a vigenere cipher what would you do?"
Discussion
A few points should come out in discussion:
Vigenere is strong because looking at the cipher text there are no discerable patterns assuming a good key was chosen.
Because the ciphertext is resistant to analysis it leaves us simply having to guess what the key is.
Even if we know the length of the key we might still have to try every possible letter combination which is a prohibitively
large number of possiblities.
 Remarks
 Content Corner
For a long time, the Vigenère cipher was considered
If you are interested in how the Vigenere cipher can be
to be an unbreakable cipher and was used by
cracked there are a number of resources out there. See
governments to send important messages. the "Extended Learning" section of the lesson plan for
But in the 1800s Vigenere was discovered to be links.
susceptible to a modified form of frequency analysis.
After that point it was considered insecure.
Still the properties of Vigenere that we've found are desirable.

Computationally Hard Problems -- How good is your password?
 Introduction
 Teaching Tip
We know that a good encryption algorithm reduces
Don't worry too much about the precise definitions of
the problem of cracking it to simply guessing the key.
"computationally hard" and "reasonable time" here. It will
We want the key to be Computationally Hard to be addressed more in the video at the end of this lesson
guess - in other words, hard for a computer to guess. as well as the next lesson.
You should know that the CSP Framework does have a
Computationally Hard typically means that learning objective that relates: 4.2.1 Explain the
arriving at the solution would take a computer a difference between algorithms that run in a
prohibitively long time - as in: centuries or eons. reasonable time and those that do not run in a
reasonable time. [P1]
In terms of cracking encryption that means that the
number of possible keys must be so large, that even
a computer trying billions of possible keys per second is unlikely to arrive at the correct key in a reasonable amount of
time.
Nowadays when you use a password for a website or device, your password is used as a cryptographic key .
So, choosing a good password is meaningful because we want the key to be hard for a computer to guess. How good
is your password?...
Go to Code Studio
Distribute: Keys and Passwords - Worksheet
The worksheet simply has questions on it to answer. You may distribute them in some other format if you like.
Students should click on the next page in Code Studio:How Secure Is My Password? 2018 - Code Studio Page ...
 How Secure is my Password - Code Studio Page

Students should read the text on this page about password security and choice.
Student tasks are listed...

1. Open up password strength checker
Students should open the external website howsecureismypassword.net in a separate tab or window and then try out
these things listed:
2. Test some passwords
 Teaching Tips
Try different passwords to see what the tool tells you:
Make sure you leave enough time for the wrap up.
Try typing common words from the dictionary or well-
known names like “apple” or “chicago”. Students may have a lot of questions about passwords
Try typing something that’s over 16 characters. and security that you feel like you might not be able to
answer. That’s OK!
Try a string of 4 random words together, like
AppleChicagoBalletTree. a) You don’t have to be an expert on this subject
Type a 0. Then keep typing 0s and watch what b) The reality is that the world of cybersecurity changes
happens to the statistics. (Actually, you might want to every day
just hold 0 down for a while.) c) Some of the details can get very complicated, even for
Try other things that interest you. professionals.
3. Answer Questions So, encourage the students’ curiosity and perhaps say, “I
don’t know, but I bet you could look it up.” Cybersecurity
Questions are listed in Keys and Passwords - is an enormous topic. If students get interested, they
Worksheet: could dedicate their whole life to this field.
Create a few passwords using 8 lowercase ASCII
characters (a-z). What’s the longest amount of time-
to-crack you can generate?
Using any characters on the keyboard, what’s the longest amount of time-to-crack you can generate with an 8-
character password?
As you try passwords, what seems to be the single most significant factor in making a password difficult to crack? Why
do you think this is?
Opinion: Is an 8-character minimum a good password length for websites to require? Give your opinion, yes or no, and
explain why you think that.
The AP CS Principles framework contains the following statement: Implementing cybersecurity has software,
hardware, and human components. Based on what you’ve learned so far, describe at least one way that cybersecurity
involves “human components.”
Hopefully you can now appreciate this comic: http://xkcd.com/936/
Wrap-up (10-15 mins)

Discuss:
Before the Vignere cipher was cracked, many governments openly used it. That is, they made no secret about the fact
that they were using the Viginere cipher - it was publicly known. In the modern day, it remains the case that most
encryption techniques are publicly known.
 Discussion
Prompt: Why might it actually be a good thing that Goal
The goal here is to recall that the reason we want to have
encryption algorithms are freely shared, so that encrypted transactions is for our own security.
anyone who wishes can try to crack them?
We should feel good about well known strong encryption
If the security of an encryption technique methods.
relies solely on the method remaining a We want a world in which anyone can conduct secure
secret, it actually may not be that secure. transactions on the web; without this possibility, many
Ideally, a method will be so secure that even things would be impossible.
if you know which technique was used, it is
difficult or impossible to crack the message.
By making encryption techniques public, we open them up to being tested by anyone who wishes to
ensure there are no clever ways of cracking the encryption.
Video: Encryption and Public Keys

Show the The Internet: Encryption & Public Keys
 Wrap up
- Video (optional)
goals
You should know about this video: The video re-iterates a number of points that came out in
this lesson.
0:00 to 4:11 covers Caesar and Vigenere ciphers In wrapping-up, make sure students:
and explains why they are hard to crack
Understand the relationship between
After 4:11...it explains the difference between
cryptographic keys and passwords.
encryption that uses symmetric v. asymmetric keys
which is related to material in the next lesson A Key is an input to an encryption algorithm. A
and is intended as a preview. password is basically the same thing.

The next lesson begins by recalling symmetric v. Understand why using longer passwords makes
asymmetric keys and getting into how they work. them harder to guess.
 Transitional Remarks Longer passwords increase the number of possible

keys making it Computationally hard to guess what
We’re circling in on some powerful ideas of how secure the key is.
communication works on the Internet these days. But
we need to learn two more things:
1. We’ve seen how keys relate to the strength of encryption, but we haven’t seen the other side of it -- how modern
encryption algorithms actually work. Vigenère was cracked, so what are we using now? In order to do this, we need to
understand what kinds of problems are “hard” for computers to solve.
2. Right now, the only encryption we know uses a "symmetric key" -- both sender and reciever need to know the secret
key, and so they need to meet ahead of time.
But is it possible for you and me to have a secure, private, encrypted exchange without meeting ahead of time and
agreeing on a secret password.
The answer is “yes,” and we'll find out how it works in the next lesson.
(Optional) How Not to Get Hacked by Code.org

You may want students read or review this little site put together by Code.org
How Not To Get Hacked
Assessment
The worksheet contains several questions for assessment. Here are some additional questions (also included on Code
Studio):
1. (Choose two.) Why is the Vigenère cipher hard to crack?
a) One cannot solve using frequency analysis directly.
b) Long keys create exponential growth possibilities.
c) The key is always secret to both the sender and receiver of the message.
d) A Vigenère cipher relies upon an "alphabet shift" algorithm.
2. What problems exist with encryption schemes such as the Vigenère cipher, even when strong encryption keys are used?
3. Why are computers better than humans at breaking encryptions such as the Vigenère?
a) Computers are smarter than humans.
b) Computers are faster than humans.
c) The Vigenère was originally designed by a computer.
d) They are not; humans are better as breaking Vigenère encryptions than computers.
4. Which makes for a password that is harder to crack?
a) A word from the dictionary
b) 8 random characters that include numbers and punctuation
c) A 16-character password that is all letters of the alphabet
d) A 32-character password that is all letters of the alphabet
e) A 150-character password that is all the same character. ANSWER: E
5. Companies and organizations commonly require users to change their passwords frequently. Websites have password
length and complexity requirements. Is it better to change your password frequently or to have a longer password? What
level of security is appropriate to require of end users? Does this change, depending on the context (for example,
employee or customer)?
Extended Learning
Go down the rabbit’s hole of encryption at Crypto Corner: http://crypto.interactive-maths.com/
Assign each student a type of cipher. Students should then research the cipher, including information on its algorithm,
its history, and what they would have to do to crack the cipher. They should present an example, and describe the
process they follow in cracking the code.
Caesar Cipher video from Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-
science/cryptography/crypt/v/caesar-cipher
Real world stories of cracking codes:
Cracking a code as the key to understanding of ancient culture: http://www.wired.com/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/all/

Cracking the human genome (NOVA Video): http://video.pbs.org/video/1841308959/
Nobel prize given for cracking the code of DNA: http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/gene-
code/history.html
Navajo Code Talkers http://navajocodetalkers.org/
Read this quick overview that Code.org put together about How Not to Get Hacked , which summarizes some basic
cybersecurity issues and how to prevent them.
Read Blown to Bits (www.bitsbook.com), Chapter 5 , Secret Bits, pages 161-165, then answer the following
questions:
The opening pages of Blown to Bits, Chapter 5, discuss a move the government made to try to control encryption in
the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but then dropped. Additionally, during the 1990s, the US
Government was pressuring the computer industry to be allowed to have a “back door” to decryption. Why do you
think they stopped urging for this? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?
pagewanted=all&_r=0 (Teacher notes: This would weaken the public’s trust in the Internet as an e-commerce vehicle.
Any back door could probably be exploited by others. The government believed they could eventually break
cryptography without a back door.)
Encryption is clearly seen as essential to Internet commercial activity. That it will not be outlawed seems like a settled
matter. But conversely, should it be required by government regulation? What about for other non-web media, such as
mobile phone traffic and television?
Vigenère cipher cracker tool on Simon Singh's website. It's a lot of fun and fairly similar to the frequency analysis tool
used in class http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/vigenere_cracking_tool.html
Have students find videos demonstrating these or other advanced encryption methods; ask them to describe each
algorithm and what causes it to be “hard.”
Optional Lessons
To dive deeper into the notion of computationally hard problems, consider the following 2 optional lessons after this lesson:
Hard Problems - The Traveling Salesperson Problem

One-way Functions - The WiFi Hotspot Problem
Standards Alignment

2.3 - Models and simulations use abstraction to generate new understanding and knowledge.
4.2 - Algorithms can solve many but not all computational problems.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 9: Public Key Cryptography
Widget
This is a big multi-part lesson that introduces the concept of public Objectives
key cryptography which is an answer to the crucial question: How
can two people send encrypted messages back and forth
over insecure channels (the Internet) without meeting ahead Explain what the modulo operation does and
of time to agree on a secret key? In a nutshell, there are two how it operates as a "one-way" function
main principles we want students to understand: Follow an asymmetric encryption algorithm to
encrypt a numerical message using the Public
1. The mechanics of communication with public key cryptography Key Crypto widget.
2. The basic mathematical principles that make it possible Explain the difference between symmetric and
The lesson gets at these two core ideas through a deliberate chain of asymmetric encryption.
thought experiments, demonstrations, activities and widgets. All parts Describe the basic process of encrypting data
are building blocks that lead to deeper understanding of how it works. using public key encryption
Explain the benefits of public key
Purpose cryptography
This is a fairly hefty lesson because the underlying ideas are subtly Preparation
quite sophisticated. It's worth noting that much of the material here -
all but the highest level takeaways - are beyond the scope of what's This lesson will likely take two days to complete.
covered on the AP exam. Students need to know the basic public key Preparing for these activities the first time will
encryption process, and what asymmetric encryption is. For take some time. Once you've been through it
programming they need to know how the modulo operation works. once, the activities actually go quicker than you
might expect.
Our purpose here is to reveal some of the magic that happens every
day on the Internet to enable secure transactions. To many the fact Suggested Prep for Day 1 (Steps 1-3)
that encrypted messages can be sent between parties who have Prepare the Cups and Beans
never met before is both taken for granted and opaque. Our belief is demonstration (you need cups and
that understanding how it works with some depth - getting to beans)
experiment with the mathematical principles that make asymmetric Understand the modulo thought
keys possible, and the resulting encryption hard to crack - is deeply experiment with pictures of clocks
satisfying.
(Optional) Paper copies of
The widget in the lesson mimics the RSA encryption algorithm "multiplication + modulo" activity guide
(with smaller numbers and slightly easier mathematics). Suggested Prep for Day 2 (Step 4 + wrap
up)
Agenda Practice using the "modulo clock"
Getting Started (5 mins) Practice and Prepare for the using and
How do you get the encryption key? demonstrating the public key crypto
Activity 1 (15 mins) widget
KEY Multiplication + Modulo
Step 1: A New Analogy - Cups and Beans
Activity 2 (30-45 mins)
Links
Step 2: Modulo - The operation behind public key
encryption
Step 3: The Mod Clock Widget and Multiplication +
Modulo any documents you plan to share
Activity 3 (30-45 mins) with students.
Step 4: Use the Public Key Crypto Widget Activity
Wrap-up (10 mins) For the Teacher
Why this is important Public Key Crypto Widget Activity -

Teacher Guide Make a Copy
Assessment
Extended Learning Modulo Clock Thought Experiment -
Teacher Guide Make a Copy
Public Key Bean Counting (Cups &
Beans Activity) - Teacher Demonstration
Guide Make a Copy
For the Students

(Optional) Public Key Bean Counting -
Activity Guide Make a Copy
Multiplication + Modulo - Activity Guide
Make a Copy
The Internet: Encryption & Public Keys -
Video (download)
(Optional) Public Key Cryptography
Recap - Handout Make a Copy
How and Why Does the Public Key
Crypto Really Work? - Resource
Make a Copy
Vocabulary
asymmetric encryption - used in public
key encryption, it is scheme in which the key
to encrypt data is different from the key to
decrypt.
modulo - a mathematical operation that
returns the remainder after integer division.
Example: 7 MOD 4 = 3
Private Key - In an asymmetric encryption
scheme the decryption key is kept private and
never shared, so only the intended recipient
has the ability to decrypt a message that has
been encrypted with a public key.
Public Key Encryption - Used prevalently
on the web, it allows for secure messages to
be sent between parties without having to
agree on, or share, a secret key. It uses an
asymmetric encryption scheme in which the
encryption key is made public, but the
decryption key is kept private.
Teaching Guide
How do you get the encryption key?
Prompt: "How can two people send encrypted messages to each other if they can't communicate, or agree
on an encryption key ahead of time, and the only way they have to communicate is over the Internet?"
You should assume that an adversary is always secretly eavesdropping on their conversation too.
With a partner come up with a strategy they could use to send encrypted messages.
 Discuss
 Discussion
Give students a few minutes to discuss Goal
Don't let the discussion go too long Goal: Realize the difficulty of the problem. No form of
symmetric encryption will work. There is no way for parties
Direct the conversation toward the idea from the video to establish a shared key without agreeing ahead of time
of using different keys - one to encrypt and one to in a way that secures it from an observer. Hopefully some
decrypt. students will recall from the video in the last lesson the
ideas of using different keys - one to encrypt data and
Recall asymmetric keys were mentioned in the one to decrypt it.
cryptography video.
Possible Responses: Students may come up with some
If you need to show the video The Internet: fantastic ideas, but most will amount to some secret
Encryption & Public Keys - Video ahead-of-time agreement about a key, or simply some
strategy that obscures the key ("security by obscurity").
in whole or in part - the public key cryptography
portion starts around the 4:11 mark.
Today we're going to dig in a little bit deeper to how this idea of using different keys actually works. The ideas behind how
it works are sophisticated, and so to get a deeper understanding we're going to do a series of short activities that stringing
together several different ideas, bringing them all together in the end.
Ready? Here we go!

Step 1: A New Analogy - Cups and Beans
Groups:
 Teaching Tip
Option 1 (preferred): Teacher Demo. We recommend
doing this activity as a teacher demonstration in the Remind students - we're still a ways from the real thing but
we're taking baby steps to string ideas together.
interest of time. Instructions and teacher guide
below
Option 2: Groups of 3 Students. You can have students work through an activity guide that explains it as well. It will take
more time. (Optional) Public Key Bean Counting - Activity Guide
Materials: Cups and Beans - enough for a demonstration (or for groups of 3, if running as student activity)
Display: You may want to display a picture of a jar full of candies to give a visual for the analogy you're about to explain.
 Teacher Demonstration - Cups and Beans

The lock box analogy from the video is a good start, but our first step to seeing how public key
cryptography works requires us to look at the same process of using public and private keys but with an
analogy that goes a step further.
Full Teacher Guide: Public Key Bean Counting (Cups & Beans Activity) - Teacher Demonstration Guide
Setup and Activity Summary:
 Discussion
Goal
The cups and beans demo showed basically the same
public/private key analogy as the lockbox in the video.
Similarities:
For Bob to send a message to Alice he needs to obtain
a public key, which we can use to "lock" a message
Only Alice can "unlock" the message
Alice choose a private key (some number of beans) Bob and Alice do not need to agree on a key ahead of
Alice make a "public key cup" by placing beans in a time
clear cup and sealing it Alice never lets her private key out in public
Pass the cup to Bob over the "Internet"
Differences:
Bob grab the "public key cup" and add a secret
number (of beans) to it Beans in cups is closer to how data is encrypted -
Pass the cup back to Alice over the "Internet" beans are data, sealed in the jar is encrypted
Alice open cup and subtract the number of beans she Eve (or anyone else) could only guess what was in the
added originally jar even though it passed right in front of/through them
What's left is Bob's secret number over the "Internet"
At no point was the secret message ever out in public,
 Discuss: Relate this process using cups and beans to or sent unsecured.
the lockbox analogy from the video. What's similar? Closer to reality: Notice how the public key itself is a
What's different? What took place of the public key? The form of encrypted message. But it's used to encrypt
message? The private key? something else
Let students discuss for a minute
You may review the "what's the point" items and table
at the end of teacher demonstration guide
Ensure that students see how the cups and beans process was similar to the lockbox process.
 Remarks
Okay so that's one step. We now have a clearer idea of the public key encryptionprocess. If we can keep extending this
we'll have a solution to the problem of how two people can encrypt messages without meeting ahead of time.
Next we need to see how actual data is encrypted rather than beans in cups.
To learn that, we'll need to string a few more ideas together.

Step 2: Modulo - The operation behind public key encryption
The next idea we need to add is an important mathematical operation called "modulo".
 Remarks
The cups and beans demonstration showed us how the mechanics of public key cryptography works.
It’s a big deal that asymmetric encryption allows for two parties to send secret messages to each other over public
channels without having to agree on a secret encryption key ahead of time.
Now let’s look at the mathematical principles that allow private and public keys to work.
 "Clock Arithmetic Thought Experiment"
Teacher Guide: Use the Modulo Clock Thought Experiment - Teacher Guide
Here is a summary:
Materials: two pictures of analog clocks - one with hour hand at 4:00 and another at 3:00.
Display: picture of clock at 4:00. You can use this interactive clock rather than pictures if you like.
 What's Modulo?
The modulo operation is a math operation that returns the

remainder from dividing two numbers. For example, in
classic divison 13/5 is 2 Remainder 3 . The mod
operation gives the remainder portion. So we would say
13 MOD 5 = 3 .
There is a well known visual analogy for modular

arithmetic using clocks since modulo is often thought to
"wrap" the number system. If, for example, you use 12 as
a modulus then any result must be in the range 0-11
Run the thought experiment : Use Full Teacher since those are the only possible remainders. Similarly,
no matter how many hours you count off on a traditional
Guide for details: Modulo Clock Thought
analog clock, there is a limited number of hours (1-12)
Experiment - Teacher Guide that the hour hand can be pointing to. It's even called
Key Points of the thought experiment: "Clock Arithmetic" in some places wikipedia: modular
arithmetic
This "clock" operation is called Modulo The modulo operation is important for
Modulo is an actual math operation - it's the cryptography because it can act as a one-way function
remainder after division - the output obscures the input.
The clock is a useful visual to think about, but the
size of the clock is arbitrary
the same principle of "wrapping" around the clock  No need to
would apply no matter how many ticks were on the linger
The purpose of this thought experiement is to understand
clock. the clock analogy for modulo. It is a setup for the next
step.
Step 3: The Mod Clock Widget Students should understand the concept of numbers that
and Multiplication + Modulo "wrap" around the clock and that the "size" of the clock
could be arbitrary - it doesn't have to be 12. The same
 Remarks principle would apply for a "clock" of any size.
Modulo is important for cryptography as a one way
function - you can't tell based on the remainder what
went into the clock.  Mod Clock + Multiplication
Goals
To understand how it's used in cryptography, we're This step has two goals:
going to investigate what happens when we use
simple multiplication to produce the number we 1. Allow students to play with the "Mod Clock" widget to
input into the clock. There are certain properties that get a sense for how modulo works
are useful when we combine simple multiplication with 2. See how multiplication combined with modulo can lead
modulo.
to "computationally hard" problems to solve
 Multiplication + Modulo Activity
In particular we want students get a feel for how and why
Group: Have students partner up in groups of 2 or 3 guessing the blank value is pretty hard in: A * ____ MOD M
= R even when you know A, M, and R.
Distribute: Activity guide Multiplication + Modulo -
Activity Guide For example, guess the missing value in this: 47 * ____
MOD 51 = 1 you are essentially reduced to random
 Code Studio: Direct students to the "Mod Clock guessing.
Widget" in code studio.
Demonstrate a few quick sample inputs to show how the clock size can change and numbers "wrap around"
The big number in the middle is the remainder, the result of the modulo operation
Student do the activity: students should work with a
 This is not on the AP
partner to work through the problems on the activity
exam
guide. Students do not need to memorize or be facile with
these mathematics for the AP Exam.
Circulate as students work. Make sure that they are
trying out the problems given which ask them to try to The modulo operation is part of the AP pseudocode and
there might be simple programming questions on the
guess numbers. They should also be using the Mod
exam that use it.
Clock to check their results.
However, the mathematics for Public Key Cryptography is
Students should get a feel for this general formula: (A * beyond the scope of the course. We are giving it a small
B) MOD M and its properties, because it is the treatment here to expose a statement from the AP CSP
framework: 6.3.1I Cryptography has a mathematical
foundation on which we'll create public and private keys
foundation.*
in the next step.
Discuss: "Why is it hard to guess which numbers


multiplied together produce the result?"  Content Corner
These points are made at the bottom of the activity You cannot solve it like a typical equation in math
guide. After students have worked on the problems for a class because there are many equations. If you are
bit they should be able to give a few responses here looking for A * ___ MOD 13 = 1 for example, what you are
really trying to find is a number that you could multiply by
such as:
A that comes out to one of a list of infinite values: 1, 14,
 You cannot solve it like an equation in math class 27, 40, 53,...and so on.
Numbers kind of jump all over the place
You kind of have to just guess randomly, or at least
systematically try every number.

Step 4: Use the Public Key Crypto Widget Activity
 Activity
Goals
Use the widget to practice the public key encryption
process
Explain how asymmetric encryption works at a high
level
See how multiplication + modulo can be used to create
The public key crypto widget showing Alice's asymmetric keys
screen Try to crack messages encrypted with
 Bringing it home multiplication+modulo
Okay, now to finally bring everything together. This is

last and final step in which we'll see how we can use the math we just learned about to create public and private keys.
 The Public Key Crypto Widget Activity
Teacher Guide: Use the Public Key Crypto Widget Activity - Teacher Guide which contains details for each step
 Real Public Key Cryptography?
of this process.
Group: Put students into groups of 2 (to play just Alice It might be hard to believe but this widget is pretty close to
mimicking real RSA encryption.
and Bob initially).
When you use RSA "for real" you have to generate a
Each student should be at their own computer, but public/private key pair using software on your computer.
within speaking distance You put the public key somewhere that someone can
grab, like your personal web page (there are other ways
Display: the Public Key Crypto Widget Instructions too.)
page (in code studio)
You keep the private key on your computer and never
You can ask students to go to that page as well if distribute it.
you want them to read it now, or just have it Most of the time your computer handles the encryption and
displayed for you to review the instructions. decryption behind the scenes.
Summary: Use the teacher guide, but here is a If you would like to try or demonstrate for your students,
summary for reference: you can. Just google "RSA Keygen" and follow instructions
for your type of computer.
Part 1: Introduce the widget (10 mins)
Introduce the Public Key Crypto widget providing the

 Answers to some FAQs about the
background and instructions given on the Instructions
widget
page in code studio. Make sure to point out the Clock size is chosen randomly by Alice but there is a
similarities and differences between using this widget set list of values to choose from. The clock sizes in the
and cups and beans. list provided are prime numbers between 1 and 10,000.
This ensures certain properties of the encryption.
Demonstrate the first step of using the widget. (Click
Alice’s private key is also chosen at “random” but there
past the the instructions page to get to the widget if is also a list to choose from. We’ve computed pairs of
necessary) public/private keys behind the scenes so they have the
necessary mathematical relationship. Alice simply has to
Part 2: Just play Alice and Bob (5 mins)
pick one.
With a partner, just play Alice and Bob and exchange Bob is sending a secret number to Alice , not vice-
a few numbers to get the hang of it. Communicate by versa. In public key cryptography for Bob to send a secret
just speaking out loud. Exchange roles at least once. to Alice, alice has to act first, producing a public key for
Verify that you can encrypt and decrypt messages. Bob to use.
Bob can send any number to Alice - as long as the
Part 3: Show how Eve works (10 mins)
number is between 0 and (clockSize - 1.)
After pairs have gotten the hang of playing Bob and The clock size limits the range of values - the secret
Alice, regroup to review how Eve works. Display numbers that Bob and Alice use are confined to the
Eve's screen in the widget. output range of the mod clock. For example: if the clock
size is 13, then Bob can only send a secret number in the
Pick 2 students on opposite sides of the room to play range 0-12. If the clock size is 253 then the secret values
Alice and Bob and demonstrate intercepting their can be 0-252.
spoken broadcasts and entering the info in Eve's
screen.
Part 4: Experiment with cracking bigger numbers (5-10 mins)
Note: Grouping Options
Option 1: Crowd-source cracking - Continue as a whole class, with 2 students playing Bob and Alice, and everyone
else playing Eve.
Option 2: Small group experimentation - Have previous Alice-and-Bob pairs get together in groups of 4. One pair plays
Bob and Alice, the other pair plays Eve as a team of 2 (on one computer or two)
Students exchange numbers a few more times, trying to make it hard for Eve to crack. See how long it takes and what
makes it hard. At what point would you feel "safe" as Alice or Bob that your messages were basically secure? As you
play with the widget can you figure out why it works? Why can Alice decrypt the message but Eve can't?
(Optional) Part 5 - Use the "show all 3" version of the widget
Look at the "all" tab in the widget, which lets you act out and see all 3 characters at the same time by yourself. Try this
out for a few rounds and see if you get a sense for why it works. Encourage students here to play with small values so
the can get a sense of the relationships between the numbers.
Optional Recap Handout: There is an optional student handout that Recaps important ideas from the widget:
(Optional) Public Key Cryptography Recap - Handout
Discussion (10 mins)
Discuss: What made the encryption harder/easier for Eve to crack?
Perhaps obvious, but the bigger the clock size the harder it is for Eve to crack.
There are also certain values that Bob could send, like 0 or 1, that would give away the secret.
There is no way to crack the encryption other than brute force
If you could imagine that value being not a 4-digit number but, say a 75-digit number the computation for Eve becomes
mind bogglingly hard.
Discuss: Let's problem solve! The widget right now only lets you send one secret number at a time.
Furthermore, it's kind of slow - it requires multiple trips over the internet to send one message. What's the
fastest way you could use this tool (or any public key encryption) to send a secure text message?
Give students a moment to discuss and brainstorm.
Students will likely suggest using ASCII codes in some fashion - perhaps trying to cluster more than one ASCII character
per message sent.
Note that if you're going to send multiple messages using public key cryptography you should change the public key
occasionally, otherwise you're giving Eve more clues to crack the message with - you want Eve to start over every time.
A really clever thing to do is to only send one number that represents a key both parties can use for a good old
fashioned symmetric encryption. In other words, only use (the slower, multi-trip) public key cryptography for the purpose
of establishing a secret key to use in some other encryption method.
This is, in fact how HTTPS works - it uses public key cryptography to establish a secret key between two parties. Once
established it uses a much faster encryption method for sending everything else.
Optional Discussion: According to the widget look at what Eve has to compute to crack Alice's private key.
This reveals how Alice's public key was computed based on her choice of clock size and private key. Why
are these made so that pvt * pub MOD clock = 1 ?
The only thing students really need to takeaway from this is that Alice's public key is no accident. It was computed to
make the math in the end work out. That's all they need to know.
But, this fact - that the result of Alice's initial computation is 1 - is the crux of why the math works out in the end.
Short version: when Alice multiplies bob's encrypted message by her private key, it cancels out the public key portion
of Bob's multiplication (because pvt * pub MOD clock = 1 it's just multiplying bob's number by 1), leaving only Bob's
number remaining.
You can read a more thorough explanation here:How and Why Does the Public Key Crypto Really Work? -
Resource
 Remarks
This is as far as we're going to take the public key analogy. The public key crypto widget is a superficial version of RSA
encryption. Instead of basic multiplication, RSA:
Uses numbers raised to powers of large prime numbers
Very large (256-bit) values for the modulo divisor (clock size)
Crack the encryption requires finding the prime factors of EXTREMELY large numbers. Prime factorization is much
harder computational problem to solve than our little multiplication+mod problems here.
But from these activities hopefully you have a better sense of how public key encryption works and how making
asymmetric keys is at least mathematically possible.
Wrap-up (10 mins)

Why this is important
 Remarks
Public Key Encryption was (and is) considered a major breakthrough in computer science.
Public key cryptography is what makes secure transactions on the Internet possible.
In the history of the Internet, the creation of public key cryptography is one of the most significant innovations; without it
we could not do much of what we take for granted today --we couldn’t buy things, communicate without being spied
on, use banks, or keep our own conduct on the Internet secret or private.
Until asymmetric encryption was invented, the only way to ensure secure transactions on the Internet was to establish
a shared private key, or to use a third party to guarantee security.
The implications of this are huge. It means any person can send any other person a secret message transmitting
information over insecure channels!
Prompt: We just spent a lot of time learning about Public

 Whittle it down
Key Cryptography through a bunch of different analogies,
tools and activities. And what you've been exposed to Goal: We want to ensure that we whittle down all of the
mimics the real thing pretty closely. But what are the various parts of this lesson and distill the things that are
essential elements? Let's do a brain dump! List really important.
out what you think are the most important or A lot of the activities, analogies and tools were in service
crucial elements of Public Key Cryptography that of getting to some deep ideas about encryption and how it
works. Ultimately, exposure to those deep ideas is helpful,
you've learned.
but the actual facts that students need to know about
Give students a few minutes to jot down their lists. Public Key Encryption are few.
Pair & Share: Have students share their lists with an

elbow partner. Then share to the whole group. Many valid points and ideas may emerge. Here are the key ones:
1. Public Key Cryptography is a form of asymmetric encryption

2. For Bob to send Alice a message, Bob must obtain Alice'spublic key
3. The underlying mathematics ensure that both the public key and a message encrypted with the public key are
computationally hard to crack while making it easy to decrypt with a private key
4. It is strong because the method of encryption is publicly known, but keys are never exchanged.
There are some more detailed ideas about Public Key Cryptography that are interesting but not crucial for the AP Exam.
A public and private key are mathematically related so that decrypting is easy
The modulo operation acts as a one-way function to obscure inputs that are very large numbers
No one owns it - it's a public standard
Optional: Make a table applying terminology to the various analogies we saw
Fill in a table that shows all of the terms we've learned around public key encryption and how each analogy we've seen
applies.
Public Key Crypto

Lockbox Cups & Beans
Widget
private key
public key
encrypted message
how to decrypt
Public Key Crypto
Lockbox Cups & Beans
Widget
how to crack
Assessment
Questions:
1. In symmetric encryption, the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt a message. In asymmetric encryption different
keys are used to encrypt and decrypt. Give at least one reason (more are welcome) why asymmetric encryption is
useful.
2. In the cups and beans activity, what is the public key? What is the private key? What is the unencrypted and encrypted
message?
3. What are some other examples of one-way functions? Can you think of a one-way function in real life?
4. Using your name and the name of a friend, describe the process of sending your friend a message using public key
cryptography. Your explanation should include the terms: Public Key, Private Key, Encrypt(ion), Decrypt(ion)
5. Explain what the modulo operation does. You may use the analogy of a clock in your answer if you like.
6. Why is modulo a one-way function?
7. Describe to a person who knows nothing about encryption why public key encryption is hard to crack.
8. What is 13 MOD 17?
a) 0
b) 1 4/13
c) 4
d) 13
e) 17
9. What is 20 MOD 15?
a) 0
b) 1.5
c) 5
d) 15
e) 20
Extended Learning
The Public Key Crypto Widget simulates the basic mechanics of RSA Encryption, with slightly more simple math. You
could go read about RSA Encryption.
RSA Encryption Examples
Standards Alignment

4.2 - Algorithms can solve many but not all computational problems.

UNIT Ch. 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4
Lesson 10: Rapid Research - Cybercrime
Research | Project
Students learn about various types of cybercrimes and the Objectives

cybersecurity measures that can help prevent them. Then students
perform a Rapid Research project investigating a particular
cybercrime event with a particular focus on the data that was lost or Explain the characteristics of a phishing attack
stolen and the concerns that arise as a result. The Rapid Research Explain how a DDoS attack works
activity features vocabulary, concepts, and skills that should help Describe how one computer virus works
prepare them for the AP Explore PT, and also serves as a capstone Research and describe a cyber attack found
for the sequence of lessons on encryption and security. in the news
Reason about the threats posed by, and
Purpose methods of recourse for, various types of
cyber attacks
This lesson serves two roles. 1. Review terminology about Describe plausible storage, security, or
cybersecurity and crime that is relevant for the AP CS Principles privacy concerns for particular pieces of data
Exam and 2. Practice research and writing skills that will help students
on the Explore PT. Preparation
Following this lesson you may opt to either run the research activity in Review the video
the next lesson or move on to running the full Explore PT with your Review annotated responses to
class. Note that the Explore PT prep unit includes additional terminology at end of lesson for wrap up
resources that will help students prepare for the task. KEY Video Guide "Cybersecurity and
Agenda Crime"
Getting Started (5 mins) Links

Video: Cybersecurity & Crime
Activity (40 + 30 mins)
Rapid Reseach - Cybersecurity and Crime
Day 1 - Choose Innovation, Read and Research
with students.
Day 2 - Prepare one-pager
For the Students
Wrap Up (10 mins)
Rapid Research - Cybercrime - Activity
Review Cybersecurity Terms
Guide Make a Copy
Assessment
Cybersecurity One-Pager - Template
Make a Copy
Cybersecurity and Crime Video
Worksheet (Optional) - Video Worksheet
Make a Copy
How Not To Get Hacked - Web Resource
The Internet: Cybersecurity and Crime -
Video (download)
Vocabulary
Antivirus Software - usually keeps big lists
of known viruses and scans your computer
looking for the virus programs in order to get
rid of them.
DDoS Attack - Distributed Denial of Service
Attack. Typically a virus installed on many
computers (thousands) activate at the same
time and flood a target with traffic to the point
the server becomes overwhelmed.
Firewall - software that runs on servers
(often routers) that only allows traffic through
according to some set of security rules.
Phishing Scam - a thief trying to trick you
into sending them sensitive information.
Typically these include emails about system
updates asking you send your username and
password, social security number or other
things.
SSL/TLS - Secure Sockets layer / Transport
Layer Security - An encryption layer of HTTP
that uses public key cryptography to establish
a secure connection.
Virus - a program that runs on a computer to
do something the owner of the computer does
not intend.
Teaching Guide
Video: Cybersecurity & Crime  Teaching Tip
 Remarks
NOTE: this video is also embeded at the top of the How
To conclude our thinking about encryption and security Not To Get Hacked - Web Resource page that
we're going to look at how cybercrimes are conducted, students read in the actvity, as well as in Code Studio. You
how cybersecurity measures can protect us, and what might choose to send them directly to that at this point or
the implications are of data leaking. Then you'll show the video to the whole class.
research a particular cybercrime and quickly prepare a
one-pager about it.
Show: The Internet: Cybersecurity and Crime -  Content Corner
Video
The video touches on types of cybercrimes and cyber
Have students watch the video (display for all, or have attacks NOT covered in the How Not To Get Hacked -
students watch in Code Studio) Web Resource article but are still vocabulary that
students need to know, specifically DDoS attacks and how
Have students complete the Cybersecurity and
they work.
Crime Video Worksheet (Optional) - Video
Worksheet
The video touches on a number of topics that students might choose to research later:
DDoS Attacks (and Bot Nets)

Cyber warfare
Viruses and Anti Virus Software
Phishing Scams
Credit Card theft
Types of people who commit cybercrimes
Activity (40 + 30 mins)

Rapid Reseach - Cybersecurity and Crime
Distribute: Give students copies of Rapid Research - Cybercrime - Activity Guide
and Cybersecurity One-Pager - Template .
Below is a suggested schedule for completing the project.

 Teaching Tip
Day 1 - Choose Innovation, Read Differences from the actual Explore PT: The actual
and Research Explore Performance Task will be completed over 8 class
hours. The fact that this schedule is significantly shorter
 Review Activity Guide and Rubric: At the reflects several differences in this Practice PT.
beginning of the project, emphasize the importance of Some categories and topics have been supplied ahead
reviewing the one-pager template and rubric.
of time.
Students may assume that more is required of them Students are not creating any kind of computational
than is actually the case. Point out that the written artifact
component is quite short. They probably have space for Students are not describing the beneficial or harmful
at most 100-150 words per response. effects of an innovation / event.
Choosing Your Cybercrime Event: It is
recommended that you place a time limit on this
process (e.g. 20 minutes). Students should not leave class after the first day without a topic in mind and ideally with some
resources identified. Luckily, in choosing their topics, students will likely have begun to identify resources they can use in
completing their project.
Conducting Your Research: This document is  Teaching Tip

intended to serve primarily as a guide to students for
identifying online sources of information. The skill Cybercrime Definition: The definition of a cybercrime
event as "any instance where digitally stored data falls
students need to develop is identifying useful resources
into the hands of someone not originally intended to have
on their own and then synthesizing this information. access to it" is used to help align this task to the Explore
Being presented with a structured way of doing this PT. In particular this definition sets up the last two
means students will have a model for how to complete prompts of the activity guide where students must both
their research when completing the actual Explore PT. specifically identify the data used by an app and describe
concerns specifically related to this data. These are
critical skills students must use when describing the
Day 2 - Prepare one-pager computing innovation they will research. Make sure you
reinforce this definition as students choose their topics.
Complete One-Pager: Students should find this
aspect of their project most familiar. The prompts are
similar in style and content to prompts students have already seen. Emphasize the need for clarity in their writing, and
remind them that everything must fit on a single page. If they have responded completely to each of the prompts, it is fine
to write less.
Sharing/Submission: You may want to collect students’ one-pagers, have them share in small groups, or with the
whole class. Since students were researching something of their own choosing, they might be eager to show what they
found out.
Wrap Up (10 mins)

Review Cybersecurity Terms
Below is the list of cybersecurity terms that students were
 Content Corner
introduced to throughout this lesson.
These terms are pulled directly from the AP CSP
We've annotated them with brief explanations that should
Framework. Check out the mappings to the framework at
come out during discussion. the bottom of this lesson plan.
Implementing cybersecurity has software, These statements can be used as the basis for question
hardware, and human components. on the AP CSP Exam.
This is a theme for the whole lesson The annotations given here should provide enough depth
Vulnerabilities in hardware and software can be for the kinds of responses expected of students.
compromised as part of an attack.
But, as mentioned in the video, a large percentage
 Teaching Tip
of cybersecurity vulnerabilities are human-related,
such as choosing bad passwords, (unintentionally) If you are running out of time, assigning some of these
installing viruses, or giving personal information terms for homework might be a good way to review and
away. kick off the next day.
Sockets layer/transport layer security
(SSL/TLS)
An encryption layer of HTTP. When you see the little lock icon and https it means that you are visiting a website over
HTTP but the data going back and forth bewtween you and the server is encrypted.
SSL (secure sockets layer) and TLS (transport layer security) usepublic key cryptography to establish a secure
connection.
Cyber warfare and cyber crime have widespread and potentially devastating effects.
This is especially true in the case of warfare which (fortunately) we have not experienced much of on a global scale.
But using cyber attacks to cripple basic infrastructure (power, water) and communication could be devastating.
Distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS)
Typically a virus installed on many computers (thousands) activate at the same time and flood a target with traffic to
the point the server becomes overwhelmed -- doing this can render web services like DNS, or routers, or certain
websites useless and unresponsive.
Phishing scams
Typically a thief trying to trick you into sending them sensitive information. Typically these include emails about
system updates asking you send your username and password, social security number or other things.
More sophisticated scams can make websites and email look very similar to the real thing.
Viruses / Antivirus software and firewalls
A virus is program that runs on a computer to do something the owner of the computer does not intend. Viruses can
be used as a Bot Net to trigger a DDoS-style attack, or they can spy on your computer activity, such as capturing all
the keystrokes you make at the computer, or websites you visit, etc.
Antivirus software usually keeps big lists of known viruses and scans your computer looking for the virus programs in
order to get rid of them.
A "firewall" is simply software that runs on servers (often routers) that only allows traffic through according to some set
of security rules.
Assessment
Rapid Research: Use the rubric provided with the Activity Guide to assess the one-pagers.
Video: These questions refer to ideas in the Cybercrime video.
What does the s in https refer to?
It's the plural of http - a more robust version of http that runs on multiple channels.
s is for "secure" - a version of http that is encrypted.
s is for "simple" - a simplified version of http that runs faster on modern computers
s is for "standard" - to distinguish the original http from non-standard versions like httpv and httpx
When someone tries to get you to give up personal information through email or a bogus website it is called a:
DDoS Attack
Phishing Scam
Virus
SSL/TLS layer
When someone attemps to compromise a target by flooding it with requests from multiple systems that is called a:
DDoS Attack
Phishing Scam
Virus
SSL/TLS layer
The vast majority of computer security failures are due to:
Software vulnerabilities
Hardware limitations
Human carelessness
Bot Nets
Standards Alignment
6.2 - Characteristics of the Internet influence the systems built on it.


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UNIT Ch.

Chapter 1: Big Data and Privacy

Lesson 1: What is Big Data?

Students use the Google Trends tool in order to identifying patterns in

Lesson 3: Check Your Assumptions

Students examine the assumptions they make when interpreting data

Lesson 4: Rapid Research - Data Innovations

Lesson 5: Identifying People With Data

Lesson 6: The Cost of Free

Lesson 8: Encryption with Keys and Passwords

Optional Lesson: Hard Problems - Traveling Salesperson

Students examine a well-known computationally hard problem in computer science, the

Optional Lesson: One-way Functions - The WiFi Hotspot

Lesson 9: Public Key Cryptography

Lesson 10: Rapid Research - Cybercrime

Optional Lesson: Practice PT - Big Data and Cybersecurity

Overview View on Code Studio

Getting Started (25 mins) Vocabulary

Video: AI, Ain't I a Woman? - Joy Buolamwini - Video

Activity (30 mins)

Briefly introduce Moore's Law as a simple piece of vocabulary.

1. the visualization tool provided

Wrap-up (20 mins)

Here is a general-purpose definition of Big Data (taken

Google Maps Traffic: Another big data resource that

Go to maps.google.com and zoom in on your town or city.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Overview View on Code Studio

Activity (30 mins)

Tell a Story Demonstrate the Tool: You may wish to demonstrate

Wrap-up (5-20 mins) collection of stories compiled by others. To actually use

Is the story the students told supported by the chart?

Collect and Grade

Code Studio: Assessment questions are available on the Code Studio.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Overview View on Code Studio

Google Flu Trends Failure

Once students have read one of the articles, review the

Part 1: The Digital Divide

Part 2: Checking Your Assumptions

Wrap-up (15 mins)

Score or peer review the activity guide:

There is an answer key to the questions listed in the activity guide.

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Overview View on Code Studio

In this lesson students will conduct a small amount of research to Objectives

Video: Show, or have students watch, one of the following videos:

Data and Medicine - Video (6:07)

The purpose is simply to motivate the upcoming research.

What kinds of things are you interested in?

Research a modern computing innovation.

This is exactly what you’ll be doing today!

Activity (90 mins)

Below is a suggested schedule for completing the project.

In particular, emphasize that they do not need to create

Day 2 - Prepare one-pager

Wrap Up (5-30 mins)

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)

Overview View on Code Studio