Break The Code

- Encryption -

Introduction

The Coders have left a coded message for you in the form of colorful diodes. Gather all the information, perhaps it will be needed for other missions? Surely, the Coders want to convey something important! They had to encrypt this information to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Drakonids. Clever Coders assigned a special code to each letter of the alphabet known to you and them so that the transmitted information could only be read by you! Check which letter is hidden under the symbol, and then indicate the correct letter. In this way, you will decrypt the entire password! Let's get to work!

Application Instructions

The Coders have left a coded message for you in the form of colorful diodes. To check which letter is hidden under a single code, select it, and then indicate the letter that corresponds to it. Decrypt the entire password in this way!

Conversation Inspirations with Children

Talk to students about known life situations or examples from their immediate environment in which they use or may encounter the concept mentioned:

  • digits are (in a great simplification) a cipher, thanks to which we record the number of counted elements or perform operations;
  • letters are (in a great simplification) a cipher, with which we can record spoken phonemes, words, and sentences;
  • passwords to various accounts (e.g., email inbox, bank account, Facebook account, etc.) are stored in databases using a cipher so that they cannot be easily read and used by unauthorized persons (that's why losing/forgetting your password involves the need to establish a new one);
  • phone and internet conversations (e.g., Skype, Messenger) are encrypted so that they cannot be easily eavesdropped (to decrypt the conversation you need to know a special decryption code);
  • some information in databases may be encoded with some cipher to protect against direct reading.
  • what alphabets do you know that could serve as a cipher? (Braille, Morse)
  • What would your own cipher look like to encrypt a sample sentence?

What is a cipher?

It is a mathematical function that we use to encrypt text or to decrypt it (decode). Usually, one function is used for encryption, and another for decryption of the message. The message before encryption is called plaintext, the encrypted message we call a cryptogram. The process of converting plaintext into a cryptogram is called encryption.