Topic: Software

Write your name in code!

Difficulty

Medium

Objective

This activity explores an encoding named ASCII, which is one common way of interpreting binary numbers as letters of the alphabet.

Outline

Computers assign a series of 0s and 1s to different letters, symbols and instructions – this is called binary. The same series of 0s and 1s could mean different things, depending on the context. The way in which binary is interpreted is dependant on how it’s encoded.

Equipment

Coloured beads (at least 2 colours)
Jewellery cord (or a piece of string will work too!)
This ASCII cheat sheet:

Method

Use the cheat sheet to write your name on paper in binary. Assume the black squares represent 0 and white squares represent 1.

For example, the word “CAT” would be spelled 01000011 (C) 01000001 (A) 01010100 (T).

Assign a bead colour to represent your 0s and a different colour to represent 1s

Thread the beads onto the string in the order determined in step 1. Tie loose ends of the jewellery cord of string together. You now have a necklace with your name on it!