Use this thread to discuss your questions and comments about how to run the lesson.
Over the summer I created a website that allows students to experiment with counting in binary. I would say it is still in beta, but if anybody wants to try this out, I would love any feedback you have on it. It is currently hosted here: http://combolockhelper.com/countinbinary.html
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I see the link for the Binary Practice answer Key, but it just takes me to the Binary Practice worksheet, without the answers. I could complete it myself, but if there is already an answer key, I would like to get it. Thanks.
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Thanks for setting up this site, @nbaltatzis.(http://combolockhelper.com/countinbinary.html ) I have an ESE kiddo for whom the code.org binary odometer was too “busy” (“How do I get rid of all this extra stuff?”) and the Cisco Binary Game was too fast. This will probably be a great tool for him!
I think my crew needed just a little extra practice. As an exit slip, I asked “What is the largest decimal number you can create with your Flippy-Do?” (255) The class was almost evenly spit between right and wrong answers.
I made this worksheet to encourage them to help each other “get it” and will partner them strong to weak to make sure they get this step before we move on and leave 1/2 the class behind.
Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D2Yj3yVnhhf5Mw0DD7blSA8PsYBr3ktCOtZ_M-GcygM/edit?usp=sharing
Key: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lQ_fYQavEAUMMtYGIL-sEnjyrHmP2urESXMxxWrLrX4/edit?usp=sharing
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Thank you for the cool tool, nbaltatzis.
Has anyone else had an issue with Cisco requiring an account to access the binary game? I’m not sure if it is a weekend glitch or a new protocol.
~Chad
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I’m having this issue also. 
Its a shame it was a great game.
I found a chromestore app but its no where near as fun!
Well, here’s my first pass attempt at a Cisco Binary Game emulator.
There’s a bug in there (spacing of rows gets off) that I’ll fix. But you get the gist.
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All right all. Here it is. No Frills. Binary Game: https://studio.code.org/projects/applab/iukLbcDnzqgoxuu810unLw
Hope it works for you.
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Number System Assessment (Binary, Decimal and Hexadecimal)QUIZ Resource:
Here’s a Google Form “QUIZ” of U1L5 on several number systems. Binary, Decimal and Hexadecimal. I posted this assessment as a take home assessment. As a result, I didn’t make it worth much.
When you click on the link, it will prompt you to MAKE YOUR OWN COPY.
I’m long past U1L5 at this point, but it might serve as a nice review as students finish U1.
In your copy, you can EDIT away.
Enjoy
Joe
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I just gave my students an INCENTIVE to play. Screenshot of the highest score by FRIDAY WINS a free car and a trip to Switzerland.
Thanks for the link.
Joe
Thanks for sharing this!
I told my students that they were beta testers of the app and that the developer wanted a bug report and to see what happened at the higher levels.
Andrea
Will have my students interact with the app tomorrow. I’m at have my AP CS A students use it two.
I have moved the binary counting tool to a new site and fixed a few bugs. The new link is: http://www.souvlaki.io/#/binary
As a refresher- the tool allows students to click on “bit tiles” and see the flip from 0 to 1, or 1 to 0. When a tile flips from 1 to 0, the next tile to the left flips too.
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Maybe somewhat related to the discussion here.
What would be a good explanation for students to understand when the binary 01000001 can be character A and when it can be the number 65 ( decimal)?
thanks
The main difference is that the letter A is represented using 8 bits where as the number 65 will be represented using 32 or 64 bits depending on the language and/or data type. I’m not sure if students will understand this at this stage since they have not done any programming. Once they start programming you can talk about data types, how different data types use different number of bits and that they have to tell the computer what type of information they want to store.
This is a great opportunity to talk about the importance of a protocol. The computer doesn’t know how to treat that group of bits unless it is agreed upon. This why it is important to have file extensions. The way bits are organized is different from file to file and the extension lets the computer know which rules to use. It happens less often these days but that is why you get gobbleygook when you try to open a Word file in another word processing program. They can probably relate more to uploading a Word doc into Google Drive and have some random stuff happen.
Happy computing,
Andrea
Yes, thanks.
I know that integers are primary data-type for number storage and, for example, microcontrollers ( Arduino) store 16-bit (2-byte) value.