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Student Instructions
Today we're learning about the language that computers speak—binary code!
1. Listen to the voice instructions below to learn about binary code.
2. Create a bracelet using binary code for your initials. Choose two different colors of beads. Choose which color will be the 1s and which color will be the 0s.
3. Use the Binary alphabet printout to know how a computer would write your initials. Initials are the first letter of your first name and the first letter of your last name. Spell out your initials in the binary code alphabet and put them on the string.
3. When you're done, take a photo 
of your bracelet.
4. Use the 
microphone to share what you learned about binary code.
Teacher Notes (not visible to students)
This activity requires beads, string and the binary alphabet printout. A little about binary code (shared in the voice instructions for students to listen to): There are lots of different programing languages, but computers are actually pretty simple. They are made up of electrical circuits. Just like a light in your house, computer circuits can be either ON or OFF. Because there are only two options—OFF or ON, STOP or GO—we call the language computers speak “Binary". Since computers speak binary, this means that computers don’t use the ABC alphabet like we do. When you type a letter like A into your phone or keyboard, the computer is actually interpreting it as a bunch of 1s and 0s. To print out the binary alphabet, go here: https://www.breakingnewground.ca/tag/binary-bracelets/ or do an image search for "Binary Alphabet". This video is also a great 5 minute explanation of binary code and how computers use it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD6lcIIOeic
