Cyber Activities for K-5 (From Discovery Education)

 

Girl-Led, Girl-Tested and Girl-Approved Cyber Security Activities? Yes, Please!

(From Discovery Education)

As more and more women enter STEM careers, increasing STEM interest and engagement among girls continues to be a significant focus. This school year empower girls to see themselves changing the world in new ways with resources from Girls Get STEM. Developed in partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA, this program aims to spark girls’ interest in STEM learning and careers.

Girls Get STEM arms educators and parents with standards-aligned resources that are girl-led, girl-tested, and girl-approved for all students in grades 2-5. From student lessons and family activities to a Virtual Field Trip and video content, this program offers hands-on STEM experiences to excite and engage students. The resources allow students to explore a variety of topics including energy, robotics, the environment and engineering – and now cyber security!

Introduce Cyber Security

Two of the newest resources for educators and families focus on introducing students to the basics of cyber security.

In Pictoral Passwords (Grades K-2), students start to explore the rules of internet safety by considering the actions they take to remain safe in real, non-cyber life. This activity gets students up and moving with a game of Stop & Think Dance where dance until the music stops, then freeze and wait to be read a statement describing safe or unsafe behavior.  After each statement, students give a thumbs up or cross their arms into an “x” to describe if the behavior is safe or unsafe.  At the end of the activity, students create their own unique username and password with a pictorial representation to help them remember it.

Powerful Passwords, an activity for students in grades 3-5, gets students thinking about the importance of secure passwords and exploring the qualities it takes to make a password more secure. The activity starts with a clue game that allows students to guess about the messages on included game cards, demonstrating how easy (or hard) it can be to guess words when you have a few clues. At the end of the activity students collaborate to mix random words and symbols to create their own memorable and secure passwords.

Understanding the importance of security online is a skill that is vital for all students. Through these and other resources from Girls Get STEM, educators have the opportunity to address the challenge head-on with an approach that elevates the experiences of girls and women in STEM!

Explore more resources from Girls Get STEM at GirlsLeadSTEM.com or on the Girls Get STEM channel in Experience.