Kelly

Lougheed Lesson Plan

Encryption Lesson
Lesson Date: February 16, 2017 (45 minutes)
Lesson Topic: Encryption (security basics, shift ciphers, algorithms)

Objectives:
SWBAT explain the necessity of encryption and discuss what makes an effective
encryption system.
SWBAT explain what an algorithm is and implement their own version of an algorithm in
plain English instructions.

Materials: Bell Work worksheet, encryption activity worksheet

Time Activity Notes/directives
5 min Bell Work Students independently write out a response: What kinds of
information would a person want to keep secret?

5 min Pair-Share Students share with a partner what they wrote. Then a few
volunteers share with the class their answers. Answers may
include passwords, SSNs, a friends secrets, diary entries,
etc.

Ask students:
1. What secret information do we give the computer?
(Passwords, SSNs, credit card numbers, etc.)
2. How does the computer keep this information
secret? (Encryption.)

10 min Activity Students will be divided in groups of 3-4 and will pretend
they are CIA agents who are intercepting encrypted
messages from an international criminal organization.

Handouts are distributed with two clues: (1) in the
criminals encryption system, the word PASSWORD
becomes encrypted into RCUUYQTF, and (2) there is a
cipher with letter correlated to numbers. Students will
figure out that the criminals are using a shift cipher to
encode their messages.

Once a group solves the puzzle, they are given an additional
message to decrypt to confirm that theyve solved it.

 5 min Discussion Discuss with students:
1. What if we needed to decrypt thousands of these
messages? What would be the best way to do it? (A
computer.)
2. How would a computer solve the problem? (An
algorithm.)
3. Whats an algorithm? (Series of instructions of the
computer to solve.)

15 min Activity In their same groups, students will come up with their own
encryption system, likely using a variation of the same shift
cipher they decoded before. Students will write a secret
message and encrypt it using their own encryption system.

Then they will write an algorithm, or series of instructions,
for decoding the secret message.

When multiple groups are done, they will trade secret
messages & algorithms to see if they can decode the other
groups secret messages.

5 min Discussion Discuss with students:
1. Were you able to crack the other groups
encryption? Were the instructions (the algorithm)
clear enough?
2. What was difficult about making a good encryption
system? (Making it complex enough.)
3. Whats the upside of a complex encryption system?
(More secure.)
4. Are there any downsides to a complex encryption
system? (Longer runtime for the computer.)