Total Duration: |
Greater than 120 Minutes |
Materials and Resources: |
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Technology Resources Needed: |
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Background/Preparation: |
Background information is embedded in the procedures. The following websites also provide good information about codes: |
Engage (15 minutes):
Examples:
2. Access the Morse Code Translator on the teacher's computer. Type in a message and click translate to show it in symbolic Morse Code. Click play to hear the audio translation of the code. Ask how Morse Code could be used, both when it was first invented in 1836 and today to send SOS signals using lights or electronic pulses when other forms of communication are limited. 3. Watch 5-minute “History of Morse Code” video on YouTube. Discuss that while Morse code can be expressed as dashes and dots, it is more commonly an audible code as they heard in the video. Explore (25 minutes):
Explain (30 – 40 minutes):
Elaborate (30 minutes):
2. After 20 minutes, split teams into a communication team and a receiver team. Give the communication team a slip of paper with a simple sentence to transmit. One team at a time, communicators send the message to their receiving team. After the code has been transmitted, the receiving team tells the rest of the class what they decoded. Then the communication team reads the slip of paper aloud to check the decoding from the receiving team. 3. Debrief by discussing problems encountered during code creation, transmission, and decoding. Common problems will include difficulties coming up with unique codes for each letter of the alphabet, understanding boundaries between letters and words, and the availability of a key for all team members. Discuss why computers are commonly used today to create, transmit, and decode messages. |
Assessment Strategies |
Play "Message Received" game with a partner.
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Acceleration: |
Students can continue to explore binary and the idea of computer coding by beginning the “Hour of Code” or "Course 2" on code.org. Students can create individual accounts using their school email addresses or they can work without signing in. Following exploration of this concept, students can apply what they have learned about transmitting codes and can develop their own system for relaying a message over a distance. |
Intervention: |
During the "Explain" phase of the lesson, students can experiment with creating graph paper pictures and image compression codes online. (This site originally appears in Japanese, but the page can be translated in the Google Chrome browser.) The site will translate any image the student creates into compression code, giving the student more support in the code creation process. |
View the Special Education resources for
instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations
for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.
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