South Powys Inter-Schools Literacy Olympiads 2015-2016

THE SOUTH POWYS INTER-SCHOOLS LITERACY OLYMPIADS 2015-2016

The Literacy Olympiads was launched in the academic year 2015-2016. It is an initiative which invites South Powys pupils across Key Stage Three to become Bronze, Silver or Gold Literacy Olympians by completing cross-curricular challenges that focus on reading, writing or speaking.

As a rough guide to KS3 Levels: The Bronze Award equates to Level 5/6 The Silver Award equates to Level 6/7 The Gold Award equates to Level 7/8.

HOW TO BECOME A LITERACY OLYMPIAN1. See the MATco in your respective school to sign up and receive an information

pack.2. Read through the challenges – and get excited about your plan of action!3. To qualify as a Literacy Olympian for your school you must fully complete at

least ONE challenge assigned to your year group. 4. You can complete as many challenges as you like. If you decide to complete

more than one challenge, keep them together in a folder – if a piece is too big to be put in a folder, submit a photograph of it and keep the real thing in a safe place.

5. You may want to discuss them with your respective subject teachers, MAT tutors (where applicable) or form tutors for advice.

6. Take pride in your work – it may well be displayed on your school website or around the school for others to see. Make it eye-catching and as ACCURATE as possible in terms of spelling, punctuation, grammar and expression.

7. When you are ready, hand in your work to the MATco. You then have to wait for the awards ceremony at the end of the year.

8. Remember, there is a competition between pupils both within your school and in the other five South Powys schools but you may wish to complete a challenge because you love the subject or just want to learn more.

If you need to borrow technology such as a data recorder or camera/video recorder, visit the respective IT/subject department. If you would like any further details about the Literacy Decathlon, do not hesitate to contact your respective MATco: Alison Maguire (Crickhowell)Rebecca Carpenter (Brecon)Elin Ennis (Builth Wells)Dav Hardwick (Llandrindod Wells)Joe Taffurelli (Maes y Dderwen)Beth Walker (Gwernyfed)

Year 7 – Bronze Challenge Mathematics Code Cracker: Complete the Caesar Cipher wheel task. Complete

all the tasks, including cracking the code and creating your own coded message using the cipher wheel

English Transition Leaflet: Produce a leaflet marketing your South Powys

school to pupils in Years 5 and 6. It needs to be informative have an excellent standard of presentation. It needs to include images and a discussion on the process of moving from primary to secondary school. Spelling, punctuation or grammar must be accurate. Minimum 2 sides A4.

Science Poster Production: Produce an A3 annotated poster that describes & explains the journey of a water droplet as it travels through the water cycle. Make sure you use key words correctly.

Mamiaeth Factfile: to write a fact file detailing the information of, in your opinion, the three most important Welsh icons of past/present - in Welsh. You must explain why they are so important.

Welsh Transition Letter: Write a letter in Welsh to a friend in Year 6, telling them about life in secondary school.You should:

Discuss good and bad points. Use appropriate discussing connectives, such as ar y naill law,

and ar y llaw arall, ar y cyfan, felly etc. Give your opinions and support them with reasons. Spell and punctuate correctly. Use a variety of Welsh sentence patterns consistently and

correctly.Minimum half page of A4.

Geography Photograph Analysis: Annotate a photograph of a local rural area and a local urban area to compare and contrast them; describe and explain the various physical and human features; and identify the geographical processes present. Use appropriate geographic terminology.

History Family Tree: Bring in a photograph of any relative from your family history. Produce a family tree (of minimum 4 generations) to clearly show your relationship with this person. Write an explanation of your relationship with the person.

RE Dear Diary: Write a daily diary entry for the week commencing on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter Monday. The diary has to be written from Jesus’ point of view and must describe and explain Jesus’ thoughts and feelings in the days leading up to his execution.

MFL Georges Timetable: Read the script about Georges’ timetable and favourite lessons and answer the questions in French.

Music Song Review: Write a review of a popular song of your choice, describing in detail how the elements of music are used, for example, the tempo of the song, the structure that is used, how the instruments are used together. Discuss the language that is used within the song and the imagery that it creates.

DT Poster Production: Design an A3 poster to advertise the sale of the product you have built during DT lessons this year. You need to include a detailed description of the product and also comment on its size, cost, materials, function etc. You can also include images of your product.

PE Power Point Presentation: Produce a PPT explaining why it is important to have a healthy lifestyle. Describe and explain what it means to be healthy (physical activity; balanced diet; not smoking/drinking alcohol/taking drugs). Include the benefits and

negative consequences of different lifestyle choices.Art Album Cover Design: Design a front and back Album cover for a

musical artist/group of your choice. This can be produced using any media of your choice - ICT packages are allowed also e.g. Photo Shop, Corel Draw or Publisher. Describe and explain the methods you have used and what influenced your design. Evaluate the outcome.

ICT Movie Making: Create a movie related to e-safety. The specific topic area is up to you. Examples of topic areas include e.g. Mobile Phones, Internet, Identity Theft, Cyber bullying, Privacy Invasion; Trolling; etc. Your film must include narration so an accompanying script is necessary. If you have access to Apple Tech. iMovie would be useful however most mobile phones have filming capabilities. Camcorders can be borrowed from the ICT office.

Year 8 – Silver Challenge Mathematics Code Cracking: Complete the Babington Plot code cracker

challenge using the resources provided to help you. Challenges include deciphering the coded message sent by Queen Mary.

English Creative Writing: Write a short story of no more than three sides of A4 on one of the following themes. It can be written on the computer or handwritten. However, the standard of presentation must be excellent and there must be no more than three spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes.

Friendship Memories Shadows Dreams Exploration

Science Research Investigation: To find the fastest average speed a human can talk. Accuracy will also be factored into the experiment.To plan the above projectPresent the data using a variety of formatsTo analyse/interpret the dataTo write a conclusion and an evaluationhttp://www.education.com/science-fair/article/how-fast-can-you-talk-with-accuracy/

Mamiaeth Tourist Brochure: to produce a tourist brochure in Welsh, detailing a tour of Wales. There must be at least 3 stops. Include information on the places to be visited, what you can do there, where you can stay. A map would be useful.

Welsh Poetry Writing: Write a poem about your group of friends.You should:

Describe your friends. Give opinions about them as well as reasons. Use techniques such as rhyme (though you don’t have to),

repetition and alliteration to create rhythm in your work. Spell and punctuate correctly.

Use Welsh a variety of Welsh sentence patterns consistently and correctly.

Geography Diary Entry: Write the diary from the perspective of a migrant leaving rural Mexico and migrating to urban USA. Describe and explain the reasons behind wanting to leave rural Mexico (push factors) and the attractions of the USA (pull factors). Describe and explain the difficulties associated with crossing international borders (legally/illegally)Describe and explain the realities of life in urban USAThe length of the diary entry should be 1 side of A4 minimum.

History Annotated Photograph: Annotate a photograph of an item that is important to your family History (e.g. a medal, a photograph, a diary). Describe what the item is; where it came from and explain why the item is important in your family History.

RE Interview and Poster: Identify somebody practicing a religion you have decided to study e.g. Christianity; Judaism; Hinduism; Buddhism; Islam.... Interview them on their religion to find out about the history of the religion; the beliefs; key symbols; festivals/celebrations; laws etc. Use the information from your interview to produce an A3 annotated poster to present your interview findings.

MFL Film Review: Watch a film of your choosing and write a review of it in French (or German if you prefer). Summarise the film’s plot, describe the main characters and state your overall opinion of the film. The length of the review should be 1 side of A4 minimum.

Music Rap Writing: Write a rap on a theme of your choice. Your theme must be appropriate. You must consider style, rhyme, rhythm, tempo etc. Record your rap using software if possible.

DT Research into the culinary or fashion culture of a country of your choice. Either produce a dish from your chosen country. Include the recipe and photographs of the different stages of production and the research behind the dish. Evaluate the final product as an annotated photograph. Or produce an A3 poster collage of the fashion styles of your chosen country and annotate it with the research you have collected, explaining the influences.

PE Sports Report: Watch and write a report of minimum 1 side A4 on a major sporting event that occurs throughout the year. It could be:

a school based sporting event such as Sports day; an event you went to watch at a local sports club or stadium such

as a rugby or football game; a major event you watched on the television e.g. Grand National,

Tour de France, London Marathon, the Boat Race etc…Record yourself presenting the report if possible.

Art Sale Leaflet: Produce a leaflet advertising the sale of a famous Welsh artist’s work. You will need to describe and explain the work in your own words, providing alongside images.

ICT Techno-Travel Agent: Produce a PowerPoint Presentation detailing information on a holiday destination of your choice. Include information on the following:

Sites – what can tourists see if they visit? Events – what can tourists do if they visit? Include information on

the various attractions available Location – where is the holiday destination located (use maps)? Climate - what is the weather like (show using a climate graph)? Interesting Facts – what makes the area interesting (use images)? General F.A.Qs about the holiday you are offering Websites – where can tourists go to find out further details about

the destinationProduce a digital poster to advertise your holidayProduce a 5 day itinerary as a Word document.Use Excel to produce a spread sheet to cost the holiday.Make sure you use advanced formatting techniques in your Word and PPT document e.g. cropping; re-sizing; adding borders; backgrounds etc.

Year 9 – Gold Challenge Mathematics Data Handling Project: Identify, plan and carry out a data handling

research project on a topic area of your choice - It might be worth discussing with your subject teacher or MATco to see if it is suitable. Present your findings graphically; analyse your findings; discuss your

conclusions and evaluate your project. See help sheet attached.English Poetry Production: Write a poem based on one of the following

themes. Consider FARMTAILS: Form, Alliteration; Rhythm; Meaning; Tone; Assonance (rhyme); Imagery; Language; Symbolism (and metaphors). Make sure there are no spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes.

War Peace Vampires Safe Space Emotions

Science Reaction Research: To find out which type of mobile phone usage (talking or texting) has the most impact on reaction time.You need to consider:How does talking on a mobile phone influence reaction time?How does texting affect reaction time?Texting and talking on mobile phones distract users and can lead to injuries while walking and driving. This experiment will evaluate how these two types of mobile phone usage influence reaction time. Is texting more dangerous?http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/texting-talking-effects-cell-phone-reaction-time/

Mamiaeth Script and film: to write a script in welsh detailing the story of either Llyn Y Fan Fach or Bed Gellert. This must be performed and filmed. Props allowed.

Welsh Pupil Voice: Decide on a change you would like to see made in school. Write a letter to the School Council, persuading them to take the issue up with the Headteacher.You should:

Plan and structure your work appropriately to text purpose. Use appropriate persuading connectives to link your points, and

also to link to evidence that supports your ideas. Use superlatives as well as other strong adjectives. Use persuader words (‘does bosib bod, yn eglur, yn amlwg). Emphasise your points with a mixture of long and short sentences. Spell and punctuate correctly. Use Welsh a variety of Welsh sentence patterns consistently and

correctly.Minimum 1 side of A4.

Geography Sustainable Scenarios: Answer the question “What will life be like in 2050?”. You need to consider the following: Describe and explain how the following might change by 2050.

Population explosion; Water; Food; Energy; Land availability;Climate; Health and Disease; Housing; Resource exploitationPoverty; Transport; Waste management

Why they might become issues (if they are not already)? What can be done to prevent these potential issues? How successful might they be? Which will be most significant and why?

This can be produced as a project; an essay; a PPT presentation; a documentary with narration.

History Project Production: Research any topic of History that captures your attention. Produce a short project on this topic area. Include:

A timeline of events including key dates Information on key people A summary of what happened during the period Images An explanation of what interests you about this period

Suggested topic areas: The Spanish Armada; Henry V111; The execution of Charles 1; Bloody Mary; Prohibition; The Gangster era; Hiroshima; Pearl Harbour; Vietnam War…..

RE 10 Commandments: Write an updated set of 10 Commandments for the 21st Century. Alongside the commandments, explain your reasons for choosing these new, updated commandments.

MFL Big Bang Theory Script: Read the attached script taken from the Big Bang Theory; Write a script for the next scene entitled ‘The following morning’.

Music Original Composition: Compose a song with original lyrics that reflect a particular mood/theme that is important to you. You will need to listen to a selection of songs to help you with ideas on structure and how to make your song interesting and engaging.

DT Research Essay: Pick one of the following designers/chef’s:- James Dyson (Dyson) Ross Lovegrove (Renault) Ross James Brawn (Brawn F1) Johnathan Ive (Apple) Rick Stein Jamie Oliver Nigella Lawson Raymond Blanc

You need to research their work and write a detailed description of their work and influences on other designers/ chef’s. You can use the internet to help you and also include pictures of their work. The task needs to be completed as a continuous piece of writing of minimum 2 sides of A4.

PE Essay: Many countries want to hold major sporting events. Answer the question: ”To what extent is hosting a major sporting event such as the Olympics or World Cup a good thing?”. To do this correctly, you need to:

describe and explain the advantages of hosting an event describe and explain the disadvantages of hosting an event reach a conclusion where you discuss your opinion on whether or

not it is a good thingArt Find a book aimed at young children of approximately 20 pages e.g. Not

Now Bernard or The Very Hungry Caterpillar and illustrate the book appropriately.

ICT Use digital recording equipment to produce, record and edit a video of one of the following (as per the appropriate gold challenge):

A report on the issues you would like to see addressed within your school

A documentary on Sustainability A documentary on your chosen Historical period The Big Bang Theory scripts A news report on your chosen designer/chef A news report on the effects of a major sporting event A video of your book

South Powys Inter-Schools Literacy Olympiads 2015-2016

Please use the following proforma to track your progress

Subject Task Yr 7 BronzeChallenge

Yr 8 Silver Challenge

Yr 9 GoldChallenge

MATco Signature

Date

Maths

English

Science

Mamiaeth

Welsh

Geography

History

RE

MFL

Art

Music

DT

PE

ICT

Pupil Name………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

School …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Date of Award Submission ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Science Silver: How Fast Can You Talk With Accuracy?

Source: http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/how-fast-can-you-talk-with-accuracy/

Objective: To find the fastest average speed a human can talk. Accuracy will also be factored into the experiment

Research Questions: Who has the fastest recorded (& accurate) speech in the world? What part of our brain controls speech?

Some people are said to talk too fast. Have you or have you heard some people speak rapidly during a presentation? Or do they just speak very fast in daily life as well?It isn't good to speak too fast because our ears will not be able to recognize such fast speeds. But what is the fastest an average person can speak?

Materials: Test subjects (obviously don't pick little kids because they don't have their speech

down yet nor diagnosed speech-impaired individuals) Get as many as you can. A software that can slow down speech while still being audible such as these 2:

http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/ http://audacity.sourceforge.net (it's free!)

The same selected passage for everyone to read (controlled) – Hint: Pick one that is around 100-200 words long.

A timer/stopwatch Printer/Computer Pen and paper for notes

Experimental Procedure:1. Print out your chosen passage for your test subject to read. Do an accurate word

count and determine the number of words in the passage. (This can usually be done efficiently in a word processor, but you can count it yourself as well) Write down and remember this number.

2. Hand the passage to your test subject and instruct them to raise their hand when they are done reading the passage. This is so you will know when to press stop on the stopwatch.

3. Give your test subject 3 counts (ready..set...go or 1,2,3) and instruct them to start reading the passage as fast and as accurate as they can. Stop the watch when your test subject raises his/her hand. Record this time.

4. Using an audio software (such as Audacity), press the option to slow down or play back speech so you can hear word-for-word what the test subject has said....just in slow-mo.

5. Count out any words that still sound inaudible, slurred, skipped, or incorrect. Take this number and divide by the number of total words in the passage and multiply by 100. This number will determine the percent accuracy. Record this.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 for all of your test subjects.7. After you have tested all your subjects you should record your results in a reasonable

manner and come up with a conclusion.

Suggested Chart

  Speed Accuracy NotesTest Subject #1      Test Subject #2      Test Subject #3      

Science Gold:

Texting vs. Talking: The Effects of Cell Phones on Reaction Time

Source: http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/texting-talking-effects-cell-phone-reaction-time/

Objective: This experiment will evaluate which type of cell phone usage has the most impact on reaction time.

Research Questions: How does talking on a cell phone influence reaction time? How does texting affect reaction time?

Texting and talking on cell phones distract users and can lead to injuries while walking and driving. This experiment will evaluate how these two types of cell phone usage influence reaction time. Is texting more dangerous?

Materials: Calculator Meter stick Blindfold Test subjects with cell phones (approximately 10 males and 10 females) Notebook for recording results

Experimental Procedure:1. Place your thumb and index finger above the 100 centimetre mark on the meter stick.

For each test subject, perform the following steps:2. Ask the test subject to place his or her thumb and forefinger on either side of the

meter stick at the 0 centimetre mark. When you drop the stick, the test subject will attempt to catch it by closing his or her thumb and forefinger.

3. Test baseline reaction time first. Drop the meter stick and record the distance (in centimetres) that the stick falls before the test subject is able to stop it.

4. Perform five trials and calculate the average score.5. Repeat the test. This time, ask the test subject to speak to someone on a cell phone

while you conduct the experiment.6. Perform five trials and calculate the average score.7. Repeat the test. This time ask the test subject to send a text message (with one hand)

while you conduct the experiment.8. Perform five trials and calculate the average score.9. Repeat steps 2-8 for many male and female test subjects.10. Evaluate your data and calculate each participant’s average reaction time for

each experiment. Use the formula: d=0.5a*t211. Solve for t when d equals distance travelled by the meter stick and a equals the

acceleration due to gravity constant (9.8 meters per second squared).12. Evaluate your results. Which type of cell phone usage affects reaction time

most? How much is reaction time changed by texting? By talking?

MFL: Bronze

Mes matières scolaires préférés

Bonjour, je m’appelle Georges. J’ai douze ans et je suis anglais. Je vais à l’école à Netherton et il s’appelle ‘Hillcrest’. J’adore l’école. Voici mon emploi du temps pour la semaine. Le lundi matin nous avons l’anglais et l’histoire et

l’après-midi nous avons les maths et la musique.Puis le mardi matin nous avons l’anglais et l’informatique et après ledéjeuner nous avons les maths et après ça l’EPS. Le mercredi matinnous avons le français avant la récréation et ensuite la géo. L’après-midi nous avons le dessin. Le jeudi matin nous avons les maths etaprès la récréation nous avons le français. Après le déjeuner nous

avons l’EPS et l’anglais. Finalement, le vendredi, le dernier jour de lasemaine scolaire, nous avons les maths et l’anglais le matin et les

sciences l’après-midi. J’adore étudier le français parce que c’est génial et aussi parce que le prof est sympa, et j’adore étudier l’anglais parce que c’est facile.

J’aime étudier l’histoire parce que c’est très intéressant et j’aime aussi les maths et l’informatique. Je déteste étudier la musique parce que c’est

ennuyeux et je n’aime pas étudier le dessin parce que c’est difficile et aussi parce que le prof est sévère. Ma matière préférée c’est sans doute le français.

C’est une très belle langue. Je voudrais visiter la France un jour…Mes matières scolaires préférés

The following questions are based on the text on school. Answer the French questions IN FRENCH. If you don’t understand the question the English translation is given.

1. Comment s’appelle l’école de Georges? (What is Georges’ teacher called?)2. Quelle âge a Georges? (How old is Georges?)3. How many times a week does George have English?4. What subjects does George have on a Monday?5. Qu’est-ce que Georges a le mardi matin? (What does Georges have on Tuesday

morning?) 6. Qu’est-ce que Georges a le mercredi après la récréation? (What does Georges

have on Wednesday after break?)7. Does George have maths on a Thursday afternoon?8. On what day does George have maths, English and science?9. Où est-ce que Georges voudrait visiter un jour? (Where would Georges like to

go to one day?)10. De quelle nationalité est Georges? (What nationality is Georges?)11. Which subjects does George love studying and why?12. Which subject doesn’t George like studying and why?

MFL: Silver - Film Review Helpful HintsExpress yourself!

Je pense que…… I think that… A mon avis…. in my opinion…Je trouve le film…..

I find the film… Je crois que…….. I believe that…

Ce n’est pas…… it isn’t…. C’est…. it’s…Mon personnage préfére est… My favourite character is……..

Wow words!Intéressant Interesting Formidable GreatGénial Excellent Chouette FabulousInformatif Informative Ennuyeux BoringDivertissant Entertaining Compliqué ComplicatedEmotif Emotional Amusant FunnyMignon Sweet

Intensify!!Très Very Vraiment Really Assez Quite Parce que Because

Link Words!Et… And Mais… But Assez….. Quite

MFL: Gold - Big Bang Theory

À quelle heure tu te couches?Penny: À quelle heure tu te couches, Sheldon?Sheldon:

Alors ... Je me réveille à six heures cinquante-cinq précisément et je me lève à sept heures précisément. Je me douche de sept heures dix à sept heures vingt précisément. Je ...

Penny: Oui, oui, oui. Mais à quelle heure tu te couches, Sheldon?Leonard:

Il se couche vers dix heures.

Sheldon:

Vers dix heures? Non. Je me couche à dix heures précisement.

Penny: Et Amy se couche à quelle heure, Sheldon?Leonard:

Elle se couche vers dix heures.

Sheldon:

Non, non. Elle ne se couche pas vers dix heures. Elle se couche à dix heures précisement.

Leonard:

Elle se couche à dix heures précisement.

Penny: Howard, Bernadette et toi, vous vous couchez à quelle heure?Howard:

Nous nous couchons très, très tard. Oui, très, très tard.

Leonard:

Ils se couchent vers neuf heures et demie.

Sheldon:

Vers neuf heures et demie? Vers neuf heures et demie?

Leonard:

Bien. Ils se couchent à neuf heures et demie.

Sheldon:

Précisement.

Leonard:

Ou un peu plus tard. Ou un peu plus tôt.

Penny: Sheldon, va te coucher.Sheldon:

Mais il n’est pas dix heures précisement.

Penny: Sheldon. Va te coucher. Va faire dodo.Sheldon:

Écoutez! ... Je me réveille à six heures cinquante-cinq précisément et je me lève à sept heures précisément. Je me douche de sept heures dix à sept heures vingt précisément. Je m’habille...

(deux heures quatorze minutes plus tard)Penny : Sheldon, il est dix heures précisement.Sheldon :

Ah, merci Penny. Bonne nuit tout le monde.

Tous  Bonne nuit Sheldon.

A Lis le dialogue et complete les verbes.

se coucher – to go to bedje me couche I go to bedtu t......... couches you go to bedil / elle s......... couche he / she goes to bednous n......... couchons we go to bedvous v......... couchez you go to bedils / elles s......... couchent they go to bedse réveiller – to wake upje m......... réveille I wake uptu t......... réveilles you wake upil / elle s......... réveille he / she wakes upnous n......... réveillons we wake upvous v......... réveillez you wake upils / elles s......... réveillent they wake upse laver – to get washedje m......... l......... I get washedtu t......... l......... you get washedil / elle s......... l......... he / she gets washednous n......... l......... we get washedvous v......... l......... you get washedils / elles s......... l......... they get washedse doucher – to have a showerje I have a showertu you have a showeril / elle he / she has a showernous we have a showervous you have a showerils / elles they have a shower

B Trouve dans le texte

1 about ten o’clock ..................................................................................................

2 at ten o’clock ........................................................................................................

3 at six fifty five precisely ...........................................................................................

4 or a bit earlier .......................................................................................................

5 or a bit later .........................................................................................................

6 very, very late .....................................................................................................

7 What time do you go to bed, Sheldon? ................................................................................................................................

C Adapte les phrases ...

1 about eleven o’clock ...........................................................................................

2 at twelve o’clock...........................................................................................

3 at nine o’clock precisely...........................................................................................

4 or earlier...........................................................................................

5 or later...........................................................................................

6 very, very early...........................................................................................

7 What time do you have a shower, Sheldon? ................................................................................................................................

Mathematics Bronze: Caesar CipherOverview: Throughout history secret codes have been used to pass important messages between people and keep them safe from the enemy. Some messages were so important that people would invent elaborate ways to hide what was being sent.

Roman dictator, Julius Caesar is said to have used a secret code to communicate with his armies. The code, now referred to as the Caesar Cipher, is a simple example of a substitution cipher. The Caesar Cipher involves swapping each letter of the alphabet with another letter, a fixed number of positions down the alphabet. For example, a shift of three would mean that the letter A is replaced with D, B is replaced with E and C is replaced with F (see table below).

Plain text

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Cipher text

d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a b c

Example BecomesPlaintext: “ADVANCE ON GAUL” Ciphertext: “DGYDQFH RQ JDXO”

To help encrypt and decrypt the Caesar Cipher you can use a Caesar Cipher Wheel. The wheel is made of two rotating circles with the alphabet, one inside the other (see below).

Keywords:Sender The person who creates the message.Receiver The person who the message is sent to.Plain Text The message that is to be sent.Cipher Text

The coded version of the plaintext.

Encryption

The process of turning plain text into ciphertext

Decryption

The process of turning cipher text into plaintext.

Substitution Cipher

A coding technique that involves replacing every letter in a plaintext with a different letter.

Your Mission:Create your own Caesar Cipher wheel, using the frames provided.

Encrypt the following plaintext, using a shift of 3 letters: ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY

Decrypt the following cipher text, using a shift of 3 letters:

ZDWFK RXW IRU WKH FHOWV

You have intercepted the following cipher text. You know the message was encrypted using the Caesar Cipher, but you do not know

the shift number. Use your Caesar Wheel to decrypt the message.NLPDLC HTWW TYGLOP MCTELTY

Create your own message using a shift of your choice.Write instructions on how to break the Caesar Cipher?

How many possible combinations of cipher are there with the Caesar Cipher?Write a brief description of the advantages and disadvantages of the Caesar Cipher.

Caesar Cipher Wheel Cut out both circles. Place the small wheel inside the big wheel. Secure in the centres together with a butterfly clip. Line up the letters so they match. Rotate the small wheel anti-clockwise, the number of letters determined by the

shift. To encrypt, read from outside letters to inside. To decrypt, read from inside to outside.

Mathematics Silver: Mary Queen of Scots and the Babbington PlotOverview: Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned by her cousin Queen Elizabeth. Mary was a threat to Elizabeth and the only way Mary could communicate with her loyal followers was by sending secret, coded messages.

The code Mary used was a type of substitution cypher that replaced letters with symbols. Each letter had a unique symbol and would be unreadable by anyone who did not know the code – or so they thought.

In 1586, a plot was uncovered showing that Mary was planning an escape and her approval of the assassination of Elizabeth. A coded message was intercepted and Elizabeth’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham, cracked the code by using a technique called frequency analysis.

Frequency analysis involves studying how often each symbol appears in the cipher text and comparing it to how often letter appears in the English language. The letter E appears most often and Z the least. With this information and knowledge of common words (such as ‘and’, ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘I’) it is possible to break any message encrypted this way.

The story of the Babington plot is a good example of cryptanalysis (code breaking) in history. Babington and Mary used the cipher to communicate in secret. However Sir

Francis Walsingham was able to employ Thomas Phelippes, a professional cipher breaker, who managed to work out the substitution that Mary had been using.

They then added the postscript to a letter sent by Mary asking Babington to name all the conspirators. With all the notes they intercepted, Walsingham gathered enough evidence to convict Mary and the conspirators of trying to assassinate Elizabeth I, and this led to the conspirators being Hanged, drawn and quartered, whilst Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded.

Your Challenge: To decipher the intercepted letter and work out what the letter that each symbol represents.

You will need: the intercepted letter the Frequency Distribution of Letters graph the Frequency Distribution of Symbols table

Table Showing Frequency of Letters in the English Language

(source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:English_letter_frequency_(alphabetic).svg)

LetterThe following note has been coded using the cipher actually used by Mary Queen of Scots. Can you crack it? Carry out an analysis of the frequency of each character. De-code the message

Frequency of letter (in decimal)

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:English_letter_frequency_(alphabetic).svg

Frequency Distribution Symbols in the Intercepted Letter

Create your own Substitution Cipher using your own symbols and encode two paragraphs of text. Describe how you can break the substitution cipher

How many possible combinations of cipher are there with a substitution cipher?Write a brief description of the advantages and disadvantages of the substitution

cipher.source: http://crypto.interactive-maths.com/uploads/1/1/3/4/11345755/babington_plot.pdf)

The Babington Plot Frequency Tables

Some hints to help with this one: What are the most common

symbols? What are the most common letters

in English? What 1 letter words are there? Who might it be to and from?

Postscript to Letter

Mathematics: Gold - Data Handling Project Suggestions...

You have to complete a data handling investigation on a topic area of your choice. Suggested topics include:

1. Whether Arsenal (or a team of your choosing) win more games at home than they lose/draw (i.e. Don’t win) - Think here about how you would collect your data, how many years’ worth of data you would need to choose, would you include data from seasons where they played at Highbury? The Emirates? Both? Then analyse your findings and suggest reasons for your findings.

2. You could investigate the length of words in two different books, for example ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown (the author, not our very own Dan Brown) - You’d need to consider how many pages you’d count the letters in each word from. How many words would you count? How would you choose the page numbers? How would you then compare your data? How would you represent your findings?

3. You could investigate the numbers that have come up in the National Lottery during 2013 – You’d need to look up the various combinations that have come up during 2013 and tally the data. Are there any common combinations that stand out?

4. You could investigate the number of singles sold compared to albums? You could take this a step further and compare CD sales to that of MP3 digital downloads.

5. Any other suitable project of your choosing.

Plan

ning

What is the aim of your project? What is your hypothesis/prediction e.g. Arsenal win more home games How you are going to collect your data? How you will represent your data? Are there any limitations to your project?

Lastly, you should write the introduction for your project. This should include: some background information as to why you have chosen it; what you aim to do throughout the project; and a prediction on what you think you will find and why.

Met

hodo

logy

Where you are going to get your data from? Will you need to design your own Survey/Questionnaire/Test? How many people are you going to survey, does it matter? How will you sample? How will you keep your data accurate?

You will need to include all your data collection sheets in your project, so any surveys or websites you use to collect your data will need to be referred to and mentioned/printed out.Remember – if collecting data from the general public as a questionnaire, be polite – you are representing your school!

Gra

phic

al P

rese

ntat

ion

You then need to represent the data you have collected. Think carefully about the techniques available to you:A bar chart, line graph, pie chart, frequency table, pictograph, stem and leaf diagram, tally chart, frequency polygon, box plot, cumulative frequency diagram? Remember to SALT your graph – Scale, Axis, Label and Title. Think about:

What each diagram/chart/graph will show you Your axes, are they labelled correctly with a consistent scale? Is your data discrete or continuous? How will this affect the type of

graph/diagram you use?You should spend a good amount of time drawing your chosen diagram/s accurately and ensuring everything is labelled/titled

Anal

ysis

You then need to analyse the data you have previously collected and represented. You’ll need to do some calculations, whether it be working out the averages from the raw data or estimating the averages from your frequency tables/diagrams.Think about:

What information are you analysing? What do your results show you? Have you made comparisons between your sets of data? What can you interpret from your results? Are there any trends or anomalies? Why might this be?

Conc

lusi

on

You then need to write a conclusion (where you discuss what you found out), making sure you refer back to your hypothesis – have you answered this? Did you predict correctly/incorrectly?

Eval

uati

on

You then need to write an evaluation (what you would do differently next time/areas of limitation);

Appe

ndi

x

Finally you need to include an appendix where you make sure you have included details of any websites/books etc you have used in your project as well as any surveys/questionnaires or tests that you created for your project