Curated OER
Does the falling tree make a sound if no one if there to hear it? (or communication via encryption)
Students explore encryption. They discuss the importance of cryptography in our daily lives. Students use games and cryptography to discover transformational geometry and modulo systems. They design their own encryption puzzles and...
Curated OER
Memorandum Regarding the
Students use the National Archives to research the memorandum regarding the enlistment of Navajo Indians during World War II.
PBS
Pbs Nova: Send a Coded Message Virtual Enigma
Explore the NOVA's Virtual Enigma machine used during WWII. You can send an encrypted message to a friend along with the special key needed to decipher the message. A link is also included to the Virtual Enigma.
PBS
Pbs Nova: Decipher a Coded Message
The basic difference between a code and cipher is explained briefly. You can try to crack a simple cipher at this location.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Numb3 Rs: Message of the Bottle
Based off of the hit television show NUMB3RS, this lesson is best used to serve as a preliminary introduction to coding and encryption. Messages are ciphered by single-letter substitution, and the lesson guides students into deciphering...
PBS
Nova: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies
The companion site to the show by the same title. Interesting site allows the reader to decipher a coded message. Information on Venona Intercepts and interviews with children of famous spies.
Shodor Education Foundation
Shodor Interactivate: Spy Game
Students will learn about modular arithmetic in order to decipher encrypted messages.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Encryption, Decryption, and Cracking
Julius Caesar encrypted messages two thousand years ago. By knowing the techniques of deciphering a code--frequency analysis, known text, and brute force--one can begin to understand the three key aspects of data encryption, decryption,...