Binary Code Bracelets

"Being good at math doesn't at all depend on how "smart" we are. It simply depends on our willingness to work hard, and to fail, and to try again. " - unknown

Here is a fun introduction to comp sci with binary code. Students can have fun building their name, pet's name, favorite food, or anything they want to label in binary!

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Materials:

• Pipe cleaners

• Beads

Instructions:

• Try to spell something out with beads following the alphabet to binary code for a message!

Science Behind This All:

Binary numbers, based on 1s and 0s, reflect the practical essence of computer hardware: electricity is either on or off. Learn how to write in binary numbers, and the (not so secret) code to transform English language letters into binary numbers and back again. When is the letter A not the letter A? Well, computers don't use the letter A. They use the eight character binary number 01000001 to represent A. This binary numbers tutorial describes what binary numbers are and how to calculate them. Computers transport, calculate, and translate binary numbers because computer hardware circuits only have two electrical states, on or off. These two states can be represented as zero (off) or one (on). All letters of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols are converted to eight character binary numbers as you work with them in software on your computer. How you create and translate binary numbers is a good way to learn how computers process data at the lowest level, in their hardware circuits.