Program Module #3: Binary

Program Module #3: Binary (Day 1 of 3)

[Note that the quizzes provided are named based on the material they cover, and NOT on the day that they

are given.  I.e. The quiz labeled “Electronics – Day 1” is the quiz that asks about the material covered on day 1

of the electronics module, and is meant to be given on day 2 of the electronics module.]
 

Materials needed every day:

  1. Nametags
  2. Markers
  3. Scissors
  4. Tape
  5. Safety glasses
  6. Calculators 
  7. Student notebooks 

Materials List:
1.)    Laptop PC with LCD Projector
2.)    Hard drive (open, for demonstration)
3.)    Disc magnets (up to 200, with clear indications of which face corresponds with which pole)
5.)    Metal plates (5-7)
6.)    Bar magnets (5-7)
 
Pre-Class Preparations:
1.)    Be sure all handouts are copied and ready for distribution.
 
Lesson Plan:
Objectives:

1.)    Students will understand the binary numeral system, and how to convert between binary and decimal notation
2.)    Students will learn the binary numbering system and apply it to the concepts bit and byte.

3.)    Students will understand how a hard disk can be used to store/read data in binary format.
4.)    Students will examine a hard drive and appreciate its many features.
5.)    Students will apply what they’ve learned about how a hard disk stores data and use this information to encode a word using binary.     
 
Agenda:

1.)    Big picture talk (5 min)
2.)    Administer Quiz (10 min)
3.)    Lecture - Numbering systems, decimal notation, binary notation, base conversion (45 min)
4.)    Activity - Binary coding (30 min)
 
Additional Information about the Agenda Items:
1.)    Students are typically quite confused by the concept that numbers can be written in different ways.  Explaining decimal and binary notation will take longer than you may expect.  The lecture tends to run a little longer than the students’ attention span, but it is quite important that they get a solid hold on the concept of binary numbers.  Some good analogies that have been helpful in the past include:  Odometers, money (pennies, dimes, dollar bills, and 10 dollar bills), and T-rexs counting on their fingers (because our decimal system is based on our 10 fingers).

2.)    Students will be broken up into pairs for this activity.  ASCII tables are provided to the students.  Disc magnets (representing individual bits of data) will be arranged by one student on the metal sheet to spell out the ASCII values for up to three letters.  The sheet is then flipped over to conceal the configuration of magnets.  The other student will use the bar magnet to read the binary information (through the metal plate), and decode the message.  It is important to establish, before the experiment begins, which orientation of the disk magnets corresponds to a ‘1’ and which to a ‘0’.  Similarly, you must also establish which pole (N or S) of the bar magnets is to be used to read the coded message.  It is highly advisable to mark narrow channels on both sides of the metal sheet for the placement of the magnets, number them, and clearly indicate which end of the channel should be considered the starting point for the code.  This limits difficulties associated with locating the magnets while reading, as well as symmetry issues rising from writing to, and reading from opposite sides of the metal sheets.

 

Handouts and presentations:

1.)     ASCII Table

2.)     Notebook Pages – Binary (day 1)

3.)     Quiz – Binary (day 1)

4.)     Presentation – Binary (day 1)

 
Program Module #3: Binary (Day 2 of 3)

 

Materials needed every day:

  1. Markers
  2. Scissors
  3.  Tape
  4. Safety glasses
  5. Calculators
  6. Student notebooks 
  7. Unknown CD and DVD (1 each) [other modern disc types may not work since the track spacing is typically too small to be resolved with a standard store-bought laser pointer]
  8. Rulers
     

 
Pre-Class Preparations:
1.)    Make copies of all handouts and quizzes
 
Lesson Plan:
Objectives:

1.)    Provide students with an explanation of how CD’s/DVD’s store data.
2.)    Give students an appreciation of how much information is stored on a CD/DVD.

3.)    Students will understand the general nature of light diffraction, and how it can be used for measurement of small features.
4.)    Have students calculate the distance between lines that are too close together for the human eye to distinguish.
5.)    Provide students with a method of calculating line spacing without using any direct measuring technique.
6.)    Students will perform complex mathematical and trigonometric calculations.
 
Agenda:
1.)    Big picture talk (5 min)

2.)    Administer Quiz (10 Min)
3.)    Lecture - Diffraction, and diffraction based measurement (20 min)
4.)    Lecture – Lab  prep.  Explain the experiment, and the measurement techniques in detail  (10 min)
5.)    Activity – Laser diffraction from a disc (45 minutes)
 
Additional information about the agenda items:
1.)    Perform the experiment that is given in the handout.  Groups of 2 or 3 work best.  This day’s material and experiment are frequently the most difficult concepts in the whole unit for the students to understand and retain.  Take your time explaining diffraction, and the experiment.  Go over the calculations in detail.  Try to find good real-world examples to illustrate the effects we hope for them to see (e.g. rainbows).  Bear in mind that some students have not yet had instruction in trigonometry, and assist them accordingly with their calculations. 

 

Handouts and presentations:

1.)     Notebook Pages – Binary (day 2)

2.)     Quiz – Binary (day 2)

3.)     Lab handout – Binary (day 2)

4.)     Presentation – Binary (day 2)

 

 

Program Module #3: Binary (Day 3 of 3)

 

Materials needed every day:

  1. Nametags
  2. Markers
  3. Scissors
  4. Tape
  5. Safety glasses
  6. Calculators 
  7. Student notebooks 

Materials list:

1.)  Circuitry lab boxes (see image) (7-10)

2.)   Logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, 15-20 of each)

3.)   Insulated wire (~18 inches per pair)

4.)   Wire strippers (7-10)

 

Pre-Class Preparations:
1.)    Make copies of all handouts and quizzes

 

Lesson plan:

Objectives:

1.)   Students will understand the basic elements of Boolean logic.

2.)   Students will understand the concept of an algorithm.

3.)   Students will understand how complicated algorithms can be constructed from simpler algorithms.

4.)   Students will understand the connections between Boolean logic and binary information.

5.)   Students will understand how algorithms can be hard wired into a computer using logic gates.

6.)   Students will gain an appreciation for the number of physical components required for such a process, and the importance of being able to produce those components on the smallest possible scale.

 

Agenda:

1.)   Big picture talk (5 min)

2.)   Administer quiz (10 min)

3.)   Lecture:  Algorithms, Boolean logic, truth tables  (20 min)

4.)   Logic gates activity (50 min)

 

Additional information about the agenda items:

1.)  It is difficult to fine tune the overall complexity of this activity for the general audience.  Figuring out how to properly set up the breadboards seems to be the sticky point.  Some students get it right away, and some struggle with getting it up and running for nearly the entire work period.  Once the students have successfully assembled the first circuit, the others will usually be completed in very little time.  It is advisable to have activities of varying levels of difficulty, and to make them available to students as they complete the initial exercise.  Some examples that have proven to be beneficial in the past have included identification of an unknown logic gate, logic gate puzzles (if the inputs are 1,1,0, and 1, what will the output be?), and creating a circuit from the available gates that will give a series of specified outputs for a specified set of inputs.

 

Handouts and presentations:

  1. Notebook Pages – Binary (day 3)
  2. Quiz – Binary (day 3)
  3. Lab handout – Binary (day 3)
  4. Presentation – Binary (day 3)