Key Crack the Code Challenge Terms Binary Code Activity Supplies Understanding the Basic Concepts of the Binary Number System

KEY CRACK THE CODE CHALLENGE TERMS

 Binary number system – a Base 2 number system used in many different technologies to communicate information  Bit – a binary digit (a 0 or 1) that represents one of two states (hence the name BI-nary) such as yes/no or on/off  Byte – a string of bits that represent a character such as a number, lower case letter, upper case letter, punctuation, symbols, etc.  Decimal system – the Base 10 number system that we use every day (0-9)

BINARY CODE ACTIVITY SUPPLIES

 Paper  Pen or Pencil  Binary Code Challenge Worksheet

UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM 1.Trace your right hand on a sheet of paper. Starting from left to right, write the numbers 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 on your fingers. Since you traced your right hand, your thumb will be number 16 and your little finger will be marked with the number one.

2.Hold up your left hand with your palm facing you (the order of your fingers should match the order of your handprint you drew in Step 1). I chose to have my palm facing us because it was easier to manipulate our fingers for the exercise.

3.Now, you can use your hand and the numbers you wrote on your paper to add up to the number 31 (in decimal numbers), which is the max for 5-bit binary code strings. Since we are working with the English alphabet, we are going to focus up to the number 26 because there are 26 letters in the alphabet.

4.When you hold your ring finger up and the rest of your fingers down, you have the number two. When you hold your pinky up, but have the rest of your fingers down you have the number 1. When you hold all of your hands up, the sum of your fingers is 31, so your hand represents the number 31. When you close your hand with no fingers up, what number do you think this represents? Zero.

To get the number 14, what fingers do you hold up?

5.When a finger is raised, it represents a one bit in your binary code. For example, if your pinky finger is raised and all other fingers are down (equals the number one when you reference your handprint sheet right?), the number 1 is written in binary code as 00001. Your first four fingers are curled down and your pinky finger is up.

The number 2 in binary code is 00010 because you would leave your ring finger raised and close all of your other fingers when you reference your handprint sheet.

What about the number 4? Or the number 5? What about the number 12? Can you make the number 16? My 10yr old laughed so hard when she and her 6yr old sister had to use their middle fingers because that’s what 10yr olds do. It’s all in the name of learning right!?

HOW TO CODE THE ALPHABET BY REPRESENTING LETTERS WITH NUMBERS 1.Write your name down. Leave a space between each letter. Write down the number in the alphabet for each letter. You can also reference your 5-Bit Binary Code Alphabet Reference sheet (from your printable Binary Code Workbook) to write down the alphabet order number for each letter.

2.Then, use your handprint (if you need to) to convert these numbers into binary code using your binary hand method.

CRACK THE CODE BINARY CODE CHALLENGE 1.Use a blank piece of paper to write a small message to your kiddo! I used “I love you”, which is the following in 5-bit binary code (decomposed into 5-bit components to make it a littler easier to decode):

01001-01100-01111-10110-00101-11001-01111-10101

2.Now, you are ready to Crack the Code with this Binary Code Challenge Worksheet! The binary code on the worksheet is decomposed into 5-bit components to make it easier for new kid coders to work through!