Day 13: Binary – Sending Numbers
Purpose: By encoding and decoding Binary Numbers, Students will further develop intuitions about the properties of binary numbers.
Journal: Reviewing the Binary Number System and Binary Terminology!
- Write down the following terms: Decimal Value, Bits, Binary Number, Place Holder.
- I am going to have you answer some review questions for me, then I am going to have you write a definition for the three terms that I just gave you.
- Draw a Binary Number system chart with up to four Place Holders. Fill in the corresponding Decimal Values in each of the 4 Place Holders.
- How many Bits is the Binary Number “101”? (3) What is its Decimal Value? (5)
- How many Bits is the Binary Number “1011”? (4) What is its Decimal Value? (11)
- “What is the highest decimal value I can count to using 3 bits? (7) What about with 4 bits?“ (15)
- “Write a formula that calculates the final value each time you increase by a Bit?”
- In general the answer is 2x(number of bits) - 1
- “How many more numbers can be represented with 4 bits as opposed to 3?”
- Twice as many. Every time a bit is added the number of values we can represent doubles
- “Is This True??: Regardless of the number of bits in our binary number system, the first value we represent is 0.”
- This is actually the case in any number system that uses place value. The smallest value we can represent is composed of all 0s and is exactly 0.
Activity: In computer science, protocols are rules that allow all computing devices to communicate and exchange information. The students will now get to invent a communication protocol that allows them to send a list of numbers to represent a drawing.
- Question: One week ago, I had you communicate with a partner using the Internet Simulator. Please remind me how it works and what made it difficult to use?
- First, I am going to give you a few minutes to play with a Different (and newer) version of the Internet Simulator that you used a few days ago.
- (To access the Internet Simulator, go to the class website, log into your Code.org account and select “Stage 6: Sending Numbers: Internet Simulator: Sending Numbers.” https://studio.code.org/sections/WGYXCF)
- “Your job is to explore this tool with a partner - click all the buttons, type in the text areas what you can. You cannot break it so don’t worry.“
- “What’s different now?
- “You and your partner have 5 minutes to poke around and see what you can find.”
Call them back after 5 minutes.
What are the differences You Discovered between this Updated Simulator and the previous Simulator that you discovered?
- The major change is in how you send and receive messages:
- You no longer have to coordinate setting and read the wire with your partner.
- Now the simulator is a two-way street, and everything you send will be received by your partner automatically.
- You send a full sequence of symbols all at once, rather than one symbol at a time.
- Now the binary sends 0’s and 1’s instead of A’s and B’s,
- And…It is possible to see the decimal interpretation of the binary
With Your Partner, view the following tutorial that will show you how the new Internet Simulator works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIk2R0QuXkI&feature=youtu.be&list=PLzdnOPI1iJNdVYhNyXeP4FsbSH_AkUhxB