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Data and Society 9-12 / Week 05 / Mission Quest
6/6
Week 05 · Storing Data

Mission Quest

Mission Quest: Bit card chores
// From answers to codes to bits
⏱ about 20 min

Mission Quest: Bit Card Chores

Comet holds up three paper cards. One says 4, one says 2 and one says 1.

"Face up means 1, face down means 0," she says. "Watch this."

She flips the 4 card and the 1 card face up. "Four plus one. That is code 5!"

Wren checks the chore list taped to the Commons fridge. "Code 5 is set the table."

"What do you notice?" he asks. "Three cards, and every chore on the list still fits."

Nova hovers over the cards. "Would you like a hint?" she asks. "Count how many patterns three cards can make."

Comet grins and passes the cards to you. "Your turn to code a chore."

  1. A code book says which number stands for each answer.
  2. A bit is 0 or 1. A byte is 8 bits.
  3. Binary place values from the right are 1, 2 and 4.
  4. Three bits can hold the codes 0 to 7.
◇ BIT CARD CHORES
You need a grown-up or family member, two sheets of paper and a pencil.
Tear a second sheet into three cards. Write 4 on one, 2 on another and 1 on the third.
Lay the cards in a row: 4 on the left, then 2, then 1 on the right.
Together, make a made-up chore code book with codes 1 to 7, and write 0 for rest day.
Example: 1 water the plants, 2 sort the recycling, 3 fold the towels, 4 sweep the floor.
Your family member names a chore. You flip cards face up so the face-up numbers add up to its code.
Read out the bits, using 1 for face up and 0 for face down.
Switch roles. Show a pattern and let your family member find the chore.
Try code 8. What happens? Talk about why three cards are not enough.
For a grown-up
This week your student learned how answers become codes and bits, and how data can be stored and shrunk.
Ask: why does the same code need a code book to make sense?
Ask: why might you keep only totals after a survey, and delete the rest?
Everything in this course is done on paper. No app, website or account is needed.
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which cards are face up for code 6?
What are the bits for code 3?
How many codes, from 0 to 7, can three cards show?
Quest reviewTrue or false?
Three bit cards can show code 8.?
The same pattern always means the same chore, as long as you use the same code book.?
Face down stands for 0.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEFixed bits, place values and a code book are this week's three big ideas.
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