Binary Plinko: Difference between revisions

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== Age ==
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; margin-left: auto; float:right"
| [[Engineering]]:
| Binary Code
|-
| Grade Range:
| [[Elementary School]], [[Middle School]], [[High School]]
|-
| Format:
| [[Hands-on]]
|}


Middle School, High School
This is a student-interactive demonstration, which can be set up with a poster next to it with directions. It is designed to let students try it on their own and figure out the pattern used, but keep someone near the demonstration so the students can ask questions if they have any.
 
== Format ==
 
Hands-on


== Materials ==
== Materials ==


    Binary Board
* Binary Board
    Binary Poster
* Ping Pong Balls
    Ping Pong Ball
* Optional: Explanation Poster


== Safety Precautions ==
== Safety Precautions ==


Science Theatre demonstrators must keep the safety of themselves and their audience in mind at all times. All Science Theatre demonstrators must have read through the Safety Training page. The ST Safety Box with first aid kit, fire extinguisher, etc. should always be available to demonstrators. Always wear safety gloves, glasses, and a labcoat if handling chemicals; always perform potentially dangerous demonstrations at a safe distance from the audience; and always keep a very close eye on any volunteers you call from the audience. Always supervise students very carefully during interactive demonstrations. Assist children in putting on the goggles and be careful that they are not too tight.
Please read the General Safety section of the [[Demonstration Safety]] page before performing this demonstration.
 
== Preparation ==
 
Prop up Binary Board
Place Ping Pong Ball in slot 1 of the bottom of the board
Set up Poster


== Demonstration ==
== Demonstration ==


1) Take Ping Pong Ball
# Set up the board, making sure that both legs are pulled out to provide balance. If you brought one, set the explanation poster next to it.
 
# Allow students to try and work the board themselves, sliding the knobs to adjust the blocks inside and dropping the ping pong ball to see what value they get.
2) Randomly adjust knobs of the board
 
3) Ask child if they can predict what number it will fall into
 
4) Have child place ping pong ball into top of board
 
5) Ball Appears in one of the bottom slots. Confirm whether child was right or wrong and explain.
 
== What to Say ==
Computers read everything in a language called binary which is made up of a series of 0's and 1's. We see that the notches off to the side are labeled "0" and "1". We use the ping pong ball as a bit of information which we follow to translate what computers read. We see that if we set all three notches to "0" we get the output of 0. This means if we type "000" into a computer it will read it as "0". This is pretty obvious but what happens if we move the third notch from "0" to "1"? Now we see that we get an output of "1". So if you type in "001" into a computer it will read it as the number "1".  
 
Now try moving the third notch back to "1" and moving the second notch from "0" to "1". You see that you get an output of "2", so if you type "010" into a computer it will output the number "2". Now try something else, how about "110". What do you get if you move the slots to read "110"? You see that you get the output of "6". Now, what if we had another row to the notches? What if we put in "1010", what number will we get as an output? We see that we get 10! We see that binary is a very long language. If it takes 4 numbers in binary to get 10 imagine how many binary numbers it will take to get 1000! If you do the math we see that 1000 in binary is 1111101000!


== Why It Is ==
== Why This Works ==


See the "What to Say" Section
''Binary Code'' is the base code for computers. by opening and closing a tiny switch called a ''transistor'', the computer will transmit either a '''1''' (open) or '''0''' (close). In binary, a computer will have a line which is filled with '''1'''s and '''0'''s, and based on where in the line the '''1'''s are at determines what value the ''entire'' line has. Starting with the rightmost number, each number is equal to twice the value before it. So, if you saw a line with four numbers, like '''1111''', then the first '''1''' would be "1", the next '''1''' would be "2", the third '''1''' would be "4" and the last '''1''' would be "8". You would then add the values together to get the value of the number line, in this case it would be 1+2+4+8 = 15. If any of the numbers are '''0''', then you ignore that value. So if our line was '''1101''', then we would add 1+0+4+8 = 13. With our binary board, we are adjusting the values for a line with only three numbers. By sliding the bars between 1 and 0 we are replicating the transistors in a computer, and can see how opening and closing them gives us individual numbers.


== Real Life Examples ==
== Additional Information ==


The original computer language which all computers steamed from.
* This Demonstration pairs well with the [[Towers of Hanoi]]

Latest revision as of 14:25, 8 April 2016

Engineering: Binary Code
Grade Range: Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Format: Hands-on

This is a student-interactive demonstration, which can be set up with a poster next to it with directions. It is designed to let students try it on their own and figure out the pattern used, but keep someone near the demonstration so the students can ask questions if they have any.

Materials

  • Binary Board
  • Ping Pong Balls
  • Optional: Explanation Poster

Safety Precautions

Please read the General Safety section of the Demonstration Safety page before performing this demonstration.

Demonstration

  1. Set up the board, making sure that both legs are pulled out to provide balance. If you brought one, set the explanation poster next to it.
  2. Allow students to try and work the board themselves, sliding the knobs to adjust the blocks inside and dropping the ping pong ball to see what value they get.

Why This Works

Binary Code is the base code for computers. by opening and closing a tiny switch called a transistor, the computer will transmit either a 1 (open) or 0 (close). In binary, a computer will have a line which is filled with 1s and 0s, and based on where in the line the 1s are at determines what value the entire line has. Starting with the rightmost number, each number is equal to twice the value before it. So, if you saw a line with four numbers, like 1111, then the first 1 would be "1", the next 1 would be "2", the third 1 would be "4" and the last 1 would be "8". You would then add the values together to get the value of the number line, in this case it would be 1+2+4+8 = 15. If any of the numbers are 0, then you ignore that value. So if our line was 1101, then we would add 1+0+4+8 = 13. With our binary board, we are adjusting the values for a line with only three numbers. By sliding the bars between 1 and 0 we are replicating the transistors in a computer, and can see how opening and closing them gives us individual numbers.

Additional Information

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