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Artificial Intelligence: The Intelligent Piece of Paper
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This activity explores what it means for a computer to be intelligent and introduces the topic of what a computer program is and how everything computers do simply involves following instructions writ

Colour by Numbers: Image Representation
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This activity shows learners how computers use numbers to represent pictures. A grid is used to represent the pixels (short for picture elements) of a computer screen.

Battleships: Searching Algorithms
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This activity explores the main algorithms that are used as the basis for searching on computers, using different variations on the game of battleships.

Twenty Guesses: Information Theory
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This activity introduces the idea that computer scientists measure information by how "surprising" a message is.

Divide and Conquer: Santa's Dirty Socks
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This activity introduces the idea of "divide and conquer" using a fictitious but serious problem--a pair of dirty socks has accidentally been wrapped in one of the presents that Santa is about to deli

You Can Say That Again!: Text Compression
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This activity helps students learn how computers "compress" text by identifying repeating patterns of letters, words, and phrases.

The Poor Cartographer: Graph Coloring
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In this activity, learners help a poor cartographer color in the countries on a map, making sure each country is colored a different color than any of its neighbors.

Public Key Encryption: Kid Krypto
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In this activity, learners conduct a simulation exercise related to public key encryption and try to intercept a message sent between two learners.

Sound Representation: Modems Unplugged
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In this activity, learners listen to songs and decode hidden messages based on the same principle as a modem. As a final challenge, learners decode the binary messages in a music video.

Card Flip Magic: Error Detection & Correction
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This magic trick is based on how computers detect and correct data errors.

Phylogenetics
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This activity lets learners participate in the process of reconstructing a phylogenetic tree and introduces them to several core bioinformatics concepts, particularly in relation to evolution.

Cryptographic Protocols: The Peruvian Coin Flip
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This activity about cryptographic techniques illustrates how to accomplish a simple, but nevertheless seemingly impossible task—making a fair, random choice by flipping a coin between two people who d

Treasure Hunt: Finite-State Automata
In this computer science activity about finite-state automaton (on page 45 of the PDF), learners use a map and choose various pathways to find Treasure Island.

Patterns in Pixels
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This activity (page 2) draws upon a familiar, computer-based concept related to visual resolution: pixilation.

Number Sense and Computation: An Apple a Day
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In this math lesson, learners make estimates to analyze the number of apples per acre, and visualize the magnitude of one million.

Computation and Estimation: Roll Out The Barrel
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In this math lesson, learners apply mathematical modeling to solve a real-world storage problem, in which a manufacturing company is given two options for storing oil barrels.

Passion for Pixels
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In this technology activity, learners explore digital imaging and pixels. Learners "transmit" an image to a partner by creating an image on grid paper.

Lightest and Heaviest: Sorting Algorithms
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Computers are often used to put lists into some sort of order—for example, names into alphabetical order, appointments or e-mail by date, or items in numerical order.

Number Sense and Computation: Food For Thought
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In this math lesson, learners identify and compare unit costs of given items. Learners use computation skills, problem solving and number sense to find the cost of an ounce of cereal.

Paint by the Numbers
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In this pencil and paper activity, learners work in pairs and simulate how astronomical spacecraft and computers create images of objects in space.