Fubswrorjb Teri Schmidt Matt Rose K-12 Outreach Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, Purdue University

Overview What is cryptology? Why should we care about it? Some cryptology basics How can we incorporate it into the curriculum?

What is cryptology? CRYPTOLOGY The study of enciphering and deciphering messages CRYPTOGRAPHY The making of a cipher system (enciphering of a message) CRYPTANALYSIS The breaking of a cipher system (deciphering of a message) STEGANOGRAPHY=Hiding the actual existence of the message (invisible ink, hiding messages in art, etc.)

Why should we care about cryptology? Natural curiosity about secrets We encounter its use every day ATM Credit cards E-commerce Movies, books Exciting, interdisciplinary topic

Some cryptology basics: Terms Plaintext= readable message Cipher =method of hiding the message Key= shared information that allows the message to be encyrpted or enciphered Ciphertext= encoded message Cryptanalysis Cryptography

Some cryptology basics: Example=A cipher that is monalphabetic, substitution and shift Plaintext= CRYPTOLOGY Cipher =SHIFT EACH LETTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF SPACES Key= 3 SPACES FORWARD Ciphertext= FUBSWRORJB Cryptanalysis Cryptography

Incorporating cryptology into the K-12 curriculum Two methods: Interdisciplinary projects/units/adventures Benefits: Connections between disciplines Applications to real life Fun and motivating Lessons/activities within a single discipline to teach or reinforce concepts Benefits: Applications to real life Can help to make concepts easier to remember Fun and motivating

Incorporating cryptology into the K-12 curriculum: Social Studies History: have students research the historical uses of cryptography Sparta, 500 B.C. Caesar cipher, 50 B.C. Jefferson’s wheel cipher, 1790 Revolutionary war Slave quilts, early and mid-1800s Decryption of Zimmermann Telegram and WWI Capturing rumrunners WWII (Japanese “Purple”, German “Enigma”, Navajo code talkers) Cuban Missle crisis Korean and Vietnam wars Civics and government: have students investigate the legal, governmental, and ethical issues surrounding cryptography

Incorporating cryptology into the K-12 curriculum: English Have students write research papers about the past and present uses of cryptography Incorporate vocabulary words into cryptography activities Use cryptography to explore the development of linguistics and communication in different cultures and times Have students write about a encryption or decryption technique that they created or discovered

Incorporating cryptology into the K-12 curriculum: Science Explore the make-up of invisible ink used in steganography and have students make their own invisible ink Have students use and document their use of a systematic scientific method for decrypting a message

Incorporating cryptology into the K-12 curriculum: Mathematics Encourage the use of problem solving skills by having students encrypt and decrypt messages Teach students about frequency distributions by investigating a simple substitution cipher Introduce or reinforce the concept of a function and of function notation and inverses of functions by investigating a shift cipher Introduce or reinforce the concept of a permutation by investigating a transposition cipher Introduce or reinforce many other concepts including: probability, matrix operations, modular arithmetic, cyclic groups, factorization and prime numbers, graph theory, number theory

Questions? Thank you! Teri Schmidt (765) Matt Rose (765)

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