We scramble the letters – Lesson scenario

Grades: early childhood 1-3

Topic: encrypting messages.

Overall Objective:

Repetition of the alphabet and word notation.

Familiarizing students with encryption.

Introduction to algorithmics and programming.

Operational Objectives:

The student recalls the alphabet and the notation of words.

The student knows what characteristics a good cipher should have.

Points of the core curriculum:

The student learns about different ways to encode and decode messages.

Learning objectives – general requirements: IV.1,6

Teaching content – specific requirements: I.4.4,2. I.5.6. I.6. VII.1.3.

Working time: 2 lesson hours

Methods and forms of work: discussion, students’ own presentation, game, own work, group work

Knowl’s Educational Universe:

• Look for the letters – Planet M
• Draw letters by tracing – Planet M
• Color by letter – Planet J
• Break the code – Planet D¯
• Create music – Planet Smart

Course of action:

1. Recall the alphabet
   1. We remind students of the entire alphabet, which will later be useful for encoding messages in most ciphers. We can do this with the help of, for example:
      1. Look for the letters – Planet M
      2. Draw letters by tracing – Planet M
      3. Color by letter – Planet J
2. Discussion
   1. Questions (may be elective as preferred):
      1. What is a cipher?
         A different way to record information than the alphabet we know.
      2. What is important?
         A way to encode and decode messages that both parties need to know.
      3. Who might know a way to encode and decode messages?
         Only people who can encode and decode the message.
      4. What might be the way to encode the message?
         Any of the following: picture, sound, sign, signal, motion, flag, graphic, sensory,…
      5. Is writing a word using vowel and consonant colors a cipher? Is it a good cipher or a bad one?
         Bad, because, for example, two words will have the same notation: nice-was
      6. Color Cipher: Color by letters (Planet J)
         1. We ask students to color specific letters.
         2. Question: could it be a cipher and why?
      7. Can Coloring by Numbers – Planet Pi be a cipher?
      8. What features must a good encryption method contain?
         1. A way to encode and decode that will not be easily guessed by others
         2. when encoded and decoded according to the key, the message should sound like this
         3. The cipher should be difficult to break
         4. The encoded message should not be readable, that is, the real message should not be readable from it
         5. The elitism of the group that knows the key to reading the message
      9. What is needed to encrypt a message?
         1. message
         2. a key with which to encode and decode the message
         3. Appropriate form to convey the message, e.g.: paper, body movements, written melody
         4. message, encoded message and key should not be close to each other
      10. What science deals with ciphers?
          Cryptology
      11. What was Enigma and who managed to break it?
          1. Portable electromechanical cipher machine, based on a mechanism of rotating rotors. This machine, after setting the initial indicators, swapped letters according to its algorithm. It works on the principle of a multiple-position cipher (each letter is replaced by another according to the key). To decrypt a message, it was necessary to know the successive keys of the pivot cipher, which changed after any rearrangement of the initial settings. Enigma was used to transmit messages among themselves by the German side during World War II.
          2. The enigma cipher was broken by Polish mathematicians (Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki, Henryk Zygalski) using mathematical equations. Their work served to read about 75% of the messages of German transmissions until 1938. Their cryptographic work was also used by Alan Turing (England) in the construction of a message decoding machine (depicted in the movie Game of Secrets, among others).
          3. For more information, e.g.: https://eduinf.waw.pl/inf/hist/006_col/0005.php

3. Planet J break the code
   1. We include activity, adjusting the level to the level of students. There are 3 levels, level 1 is dedicated to the youngest children – 3-6 years old, level 2 – 6-7 years old, level 3 – 8-9 years old.
   2. To begin, we cover up the key, located on the left side, and ask if they can guess what word was scrambled.
   3. We present the cipher key and ask them how they think it works.
      Each picture and color corresponds to one of the letters of the alphabet.
   4. Together we decode the first word, and the students write it down in their notebooks.
   5. Then we organize races. The students’ task is to decipher the next words and write them in their notebooks. As they do this, they raise their hand in the air. When everyone is finished, we reveal the password together and check that it works. To do this, one person walks up to the device and decodes the word. For correctly decoding the word in the notebook, everyone can write down one point for themselves. The first three people who raise their hand and correctly write down the cipher also get an additional one point. If there is a shortage of people in the group who are willing to make a public presentation, an additional point can also be assigned for the speech. Finally, we add up the results and check who had the most points.
4. Discussion – previously given task – Do you know any ciphers? Or have you recently learned of a cipher that you would like to talk about?
   1. They can be given homework beforehand to learn something about ciphers or recall some.
   2. Children demonstrate their knowledge and teach others what they have learned.
   3. If they can, they present the cipher key and show how to encode and decode the message.
   4. Regardless of what ciphers students present and whether they are active, they should familiarize themselves with at least a selection of ciphers and how to code according to them. Here are some examples to demonstrate:
   5. Moors Alphabet
   6. Caesar’s Cipher
   7. Atbash Cipher
   8. Gaderypoluki
   9. Polybius Chessboard
   10. Pigpen cipher
   11. Clock cipher
   12. Ottendorf cipher (book cipher)
5. Divide students into groups
   1. Let’s create a sound and picture cipher – Planet Smart -.
      1. The children’s task is to create their own cipher based on a picture-sound code. For each letter of the alphabet they choose one picture-sound. Then they test for themselves the notation of a given message.
         Note that the sounds arranged in sequence convey a message.

You can also consider the use of lines in the code.

2. Encode the given message according to the given cipher and decode the message after its predecessors.
   1. Prepare a list of different messages for students to encode in different ciphers. Then give each person a card with a sentence to draw. They write the message on the top of an A4 sheet of paper. We determine the cipher in which they are to write the message. The children encode the sentence in this code. Then they fold the piece of paper so that only their code is visible on the surface. When everyone is finished, they exchange cards and decrypt the message, then encode it in the cipher established in sequence and bend the card so that only their code is visible. The sequence is repeated further. At the end, the whole accordion can be unrolled and see if the initial message was successfully conveyed and how it is written in different ciphers.
3. Encode the information for any person in any cipher you know.
   1. The group is free to play with ciphers and write a secret letter or several letters to any person (colleague, teacher, parent, sibling, …).

6. Presentation of the message in the created musical cipher.
   1. Each group presents a message chosen by the class in its musical cipher.
7. Summary of activities.