Description

Overview:

The activity begins with an explanation of the Caesar Shift for message encryption (Singh, 1999). The Caesar Shift is a translation of the alphabet; for example, a five-letter shift would code the letter a as f, b as g, … z as e. We describe a five-step process for decoding an encrypted message. First, groups of size 4 construct a frequency table of the letters in two lines of a coded message. Second, students construct a bar chart for a reference message of the frequency of letters in the English language. Third, students create a bar chart of the coded message. Fourth, students visually compare the bar chart of the reference message (step 2) to the bar chart of the coded message (step 3). Based on this comparison, students hypothesize a shift. Fifth, students apply the shift to the coded message.

Subject:

Statistics and Probability

Level:

Community College / Lower Division, College / Upper Division

Material Type:

Activity/Lab

Author:

John Gabrosek and Michael E. Schuckers, Grand Valley State University and West Virginia University

Provider:

Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education

Provider Set:

Causeweb.org

Date Added:

02/16/2011