Physical Science · Waves & Information
Codes & Information Transfer: Patterns That Send Messages
Design, test, and compare pattern-based codes that use light, sound, cards, or two-symbol sequences to transfer information accurately across a distance.
Lesson plan
Codes & Information Transfer: Patterns That Send Messages
A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.
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Lesson overview
What students will learn
- Explain how a shared pattern code allows a sender to transfer information to a receiver.
- Generate two different pattern-based code systems for the same set of messages.
Key science ideas
- A signal can use light, sound, symbols, or positions.
- Different patterns can represent different messages.
- A sender encodes information and a receiver decodes it using a shared code key.
Lesson at a glance
- Grade 4
- 50 min
- ~10 min prep
- 4-PS4-3
- 5 materials
What’s included
- Lesson Plan
- Investigation
- Teacher Slides
- Printable Worksheet
- Teacher Answer Key
- Interactive Activity
- Vocabulary