Identify Problem/Needs:

Engage

-Watch the following video with the students:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/massive-equifax-data-breach-could-impact-half-u-s-population-n799686

-After watching the video, have students do their own research online regarding data breaches and identity theft. Have them answer the following questions:

What is a data breach? Why do they happen? Who is affected by these breaches? Are you (student) affected by them or not? How can you prevent them?

-Let students know that the goal of this unit is to learn about the basics of cybersecurity and how to guard and protect themselves in the digital environment most of them reside in. They will then be prepared to participate in an online cybersecurity competition.

-Have students take “STOP.THINK.CONNECT ONLINE SAFETY QUIZ” to see what they know so far.

Research/Explore:

Explore

The Internet

-Learn about the internet, its history and its relevance. Use”the-internet-code.org” curriculum, (Chapter 2, Week 3, Lesson 8, PAGE 44 on document). A KWL chart is also used during this lesson, as well as this activity ("The Internet is for Everyone"). The link to the “What is the Internet?” video is below.

https://youtu.be/Dxcc6ycZ73M

-Watch the video “The Internet: IP Addresses & DNS” through the link below

https://youtu.be/5o8CwafCxnU-Do the activity “how the internet works-interactive game” to visually show how

the internet works

Cybersecurity

-Do the “NOVA Cybersecurity Lab Lesson Plan” curriculum

https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/nvcy-doc-cyberlplan/nova-cybersecurity-lab-lesson-plan/ .

To access the game used in the lesson, follow this link:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber/

Students can play up to level 3 on the “Cybersecurity Lab Game” after the initial lesson is done.

-To learn about cybersecurity, students can explore the following sites:

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

-Have them visit https://sos.fbi.gov/ and play the grade appropriate game.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

-Have them visit http://www.nsteens.org/ and explore the site. After exploring the site, they should complete the quizzes related to the content :http://www.nsteens.org/Quizzes

Deeper Learning

Extend/Elaborate

-Have students do the research project described in “Research project-Big Data and Cybersecurity Dilemmas.” Give students appropriate time to research, prepare and present project to the class

(optional… if you have the time in your classroom, learning basic Javascript principles through this learning tool may be helpful)

-Use CodeHS to learn the basics of programming. Students and teachers must

visit this same site to create accounts before beginning:

https://codehs.com/signup/begin

-Set-up the course and run “Intro to Programming with Karel the Dog (Ace)” with your students. Website provides much guidance and tutorials to run the classroom application. It is completely online AND can be done on Chrome Books

-The entire course will take as many as 15-20 hours of classroom time to complete.

Prepare to Compete

Explain

The unit can end here, and students can instead begin focusing on the Scratch introductions, worksheets and practice. The competition listed here however focuses on cybersecurity and is free...

-Have students learn about picoCTF Cybersecurity competition through website:

https://picoctf.com/

Students can enter challenges on their own or in teams through the site.

Compete and Evaluate:

Test

Participate in the MESA Coding Solutions competition AND/OR year round picoCTF competition

Evaluate

Reflect on the competition experience: How did you do? How could you have done better? What did you learn?