Summary
In this activity, students design a system to encode or decode messages using ancient Egyptian systems or other cryptology methods. Once they have determined which coding system they wish to use, they will plan, create a message, test, and refine their designs, exploring problem-solving, logic, and creative thinking. In this activity, students will use not only the scientific method, but their creativity as they design their own unique language and create messages using this coding system. At the end of the lesson, students will examine and analyze their language and determine the importance of languages to every culture and explore the genius required to actually create a language.
Essential Question
How can we use the engineering design process to solve real world problems?
Learning Objectives
Students will use the engineering design process to solve a real-world problem related to STEM.
Snapshot
Question - Present students with the problem/scenario and criteria.
Brainstorm - Students work in groups of four to brainstorm a solution using a KWHL chart.
Plan and Design - Students select and refine their most effective code idea, create detailed and testable designs with clear components and steps, and revise their predictions based on what they’ve learned.
Create - Students use online research to create secret codes and/or alphabets.
Test and Analyze - Students will test their codes and alphabets according to the goal of the performance task and analyze them for future design considerations.
Reflect and Improve - Students will reflect on the test analysis document and plan improvements.
Communicate - Students will draft the best way to communicate their ideas in a real-world setting.
Engineering Design Process Debrief - Students will share what worked and what didn’t using the Elevator Speech instructional strategy, and then reflect on their experiences using the 3-2-1 instructional strategy.
Materials List
Activity Slides (attached)
Facilitator Guide handout (attached; teacher copy)
How to Create a Secret Code (attached; optional, one per student)
Secret Codes Padlet (linked)
Engineering Notebook Materials handout (attached; one per student; optional)
3-2-1 handout (attached; one half-page per student)
My Checklist handout (attached; one per group)
Engineering Design Process poster (attached; optional)
Composition Notebooks (one per student)
Pen/pencil
Sticky Notes and chart paper or poster board
Materials for STEM Activity:
Small whiteboards or cardstock sheets (2 per group); Coins, beads, or small counters (20 per group, for counting and encoding exercises); Envelopes (5 per group, for hiding/encoding messages); Scissors (1 per student); Tape (1 roll per group); Markers; Stamps; Invisible Ink.
Optional 3D Printing Materials
3D printer (shared across class or rotation)
Filament (PLA preferred) – classroom stock
Tinkercad or other CAD software
Preparation
35 Minute(s)
Facilitator Guide
The Facilitator Guide handout is designed to support you in leading a successful STEM Challenge session. It includes setup instructions, best practices for creating an authentic and engaging learning environment, and images of sample notebooks to model expectations for students. The materials list provided is suggested but not exhaustive—you are encouraged to adapt or supplement as needed to fit your group’s interests and resources. Remember that for this activity, you will create a system (a new alphabet or using the current alphabet in a different way).
Engineering Notebooks Materials
To best model authentic scientific discovery, we highly recommend having students keep a composition or spiral notebook specific for all STEM Challenge activities. The provided Engineering Notebook Materials handout contains headings, prompts, and other useful recording templates that you can print and have students cut out then glue/tape into their notebooks. See the Facilitator Guide handout for a model. However, we have also provided instruction slides (5, 13, 16, 19, 23, & 26) before each phase that show students what should be on the next page(s) of their notebooks if you would prefer them to handwrite the headings, prompts, etc. Feel free to hide these slides if needed.
My Checklist
We recommend printing and laminating the My Checklist handout for each student to add to their notebook or have on their desk.
Padlet
Before this activity, preview the Padlet collection to ensure all links are working and age-appropriate. The Padlet provided is set to view-only for reusability. You can easily remake the Padlet on your own account if you would like to add/alter content or enable comments.
Optional 3D Printer Integration
3D printing can produce cipher wheels, blocks, or tokens for hands-on manipulation, helping students explore encoding/decoding methods physically.
Question
25 Minute(s)
Use the Activity Slides to facilitate the following STEM Challenge session. Transition through slides 2-4 to introduce the activity title, essential question, and learning objective. The essential question should be the guiding force throughout the activity and can help shape your probing questions as needed.
Display slide 5, which shows how students should set up the first sections of their notebook. If you are using the provided Engineering Notebook Materials handout, pass one copy out to every student along with scissors and tape or glue. Give students time to set up the Question & Brainstorm sections of their notebooks.
Display slide 6. Introduce the scenario for this session to the students and remind them to fill in that part of their notebooks. Read through the slide content in as much detail as needed. Tell students, “Using their codes or one similar that you have created yourself, design a method for encoding and decoding information. Your goal is to create a “message system” that could be used to send information secretly. In war time, like the examples from World War I and World War II, secret methods for communication protected the lives of soldiers and citizens and meant the difference between winning and losing wars. Secret codes exist all over the world. In the digital age, encryption and cryptography are very important. The importance of passwords and other codes to protect our data cannot be underestimated.”
Transition to slide 7 and explain the criteria for this engineering challenge to students in as much detail as you think necessary.
Display slide 8. Using the KWHL Graphic Organizer strategy, have each student go to or create their own KWHL chart in their notebooks by writing the following questions at the top of four columns:
Know: What do I know about the task? Based on having read some of the recommended readings, what do I know about my task?
Wonder: What do I not know (and want/need to know) about the task?
How: How will I find the information I need to complete the task?
Learn: What have I learned about the task?
Guide students through the K (What I Know) section by encouraging them to share prior knowledge, experiences, and assumptions related to the problem without judgment. Then, move to the W (What I Want to Know) section, prompting them to generate focused, curiosity-driven questions that highlight gaps in understanding. Allow students time to work.
Next, move to slide 9 and have students interact with their notebook by creating their initial hypothesis or prediction based on their K and W responses and the items they listed to be successful. Remind students that this initial prediction will be revised and revisited often throughout the engineering design process.
Brainstorm
30 Minute(s)
Display slide 10 and revisit the KWHL chart introducing the H (How I Will Learn) section. Guide students to think about specific strategies they can use to find the answers to their W questions. This may include online research, hands-on experiments, interviews with experts, reviewing data, or consulting books and credible websites. Encourage students to match each question with at least one method or resource, considering the reliability and accessibility of their sources. With these strategies in mind, students should begin generating and sharing ideas for their secret code, using their K and W entries as a springboard for idea creation. All ideas are recorded without judgment in the space after their KWHL charts to promote creativity and ensure a wide range of possibilities for the next phase of planning.
As students are wrapping up their Brainstorming phase, transition to slide 12 and remind students to revise their predictions based on the new knowledge gained. Explain that in the real world, scientists do this all the time. A well-trained scientist isn’t someone who’s always right the first time—they’re someone who’s willing to update their ideas as new evidence appears. Changing your mind isn’t a mistake; it’s part of the process and how real discovery happens.
Plan and Design
55 Minute(s)
Display slide 13 which shows how students should set up the next sections of their notebook. Give students time to set up the Plan & Design sections of their notebooks.
Move to slide 14. Explain that now students will review their brainstormed ideas and select the most promising option or combination of ideas that best fulfill the need of a secret code. Students will draw detailed sketches and calligraphic units to clearly show how the secret writing process takes place.
The plan should include labeled letters or other images, a materials list, and a step-by-step process for creation. Emphasize clarity—anyone who reads the plan should understand the purpose and the basic principles of the secret code. Students should design their system so that another group can use it independently during testing. This phase bridges creative ideas with practical action, ensuring that the concept is ready to use to write messages.
As students are wrapping up their Plan & Design phase, transition to slide 15 and remind students to revise their predictions based on the new knowledge gained.
Create
55 Minute(s)
Display slide 16, which shows how students should set up the next sections of their notebook. Give students time to set up the Create sections of their notebooks.
Display slide 17. Using their completed plan, students begin building the first version of their design: the prototype — or first draft. They should follow their drawing instructions carefully. While developing their alphabet, encourage them that as they make changes, they make a note of them in their notebook and explain why those particular changes were made. The goal is to create a testable version of the solution, knowing that it may require improvement in later phases.
As students are wrapping up their Create phase, transition to slide 18 and remind students to revise their predictions based on the new knowledge gained.
Test and Analyze
55 Minute(s)
Display slide 19 which shows how students should set up the next sections of their notebook. Give students time to set up the Test & Analyze sections of their notebooks.
If students need a reminder, return to slide 7 to review criteria again. Explain to students that in this phase, they will evaluate how well their secret code performs when used by others.
Display slide 20. Introduce the testing protocol.Each group will exchange their encoded message and key with another group. The receiving group must decode the message using only the provided instructions and materials. The original group will observe the decoding process without assistance.
Invite students to put their prototype to the test, using the criteria and constraints from the Question phase as their guide. Testing should follow a consistent process so that results are reliable and measurable. Students should gather qualitative evidence through observations, measurements, and feedback, looking for evidence about how well the design performs and where it might fall short. The purpose of this phase is to learn from the prototype, not to prove it’s perfect.
After students have completed their data collection, move to slide 21 and remind them to write up their analysis more fully in their notebooks. They can use the variables table to outline what variables their experiment(s) yielded and what they would change in the future.
As students are wrapping up their Test & Analyze phase, transition to slide 22 and remind students to revise their predictions based on the new knowledge gained.
Reflect and Improve
25 Minute(s)
Display slide 23 which shows how students should set up the next sections of their notebook. Give students time to set up the Reflect & Improve sections of their notebooks.
Display slide 24. Students review their test results and analysis to determine how well their prototype met the criteria and constraints. Using their collected observations, they identify specific strengths to keep and weaknesses to address. Students then propose targeted changes to improve the design, considering materials, measurements, features, or design methods. Students should use testing data (accuracy, time, errors, and feedback) to guide improvements. Remind students that the goal of this phase is to make the design more effective, efficient, and reliable before retesting or final presentation.
Display slide 25. Have students return to their KWHL charts and direct them to complete the “L” column: “What I learned about creating a secret writing system.”
Communicate
30 Minute(s)
Display slide 26 which shows how students should set up the next section of their notebook.
Display slide 27 and announce to students that they have been selected to share their findings at the annual Spark Expo. Have them brainstorm the best medium to present what they now know. Invite students to reflect and plan how they would communicate their experience.
Engineering Process Design Debrief
45 Minute(s)
Move to slide 28, where they will learn to plan their presentation. Using the Elevator Speech instructional strategy, students will present their final design in a concise and engaging way, telling the story of how their solution developed from the initial problem to the completed product. Presentations should include the problem definition, criteria and constraints, brainstormed ideas, planned and designed details, the crafting/writing process, testing results, and improvements made. Students should also highlight challenges they faced, how they overcame them, and what they learned along the way. The purpose is to explain the solution and process clearly so that others can understand, replicate, or build upon the work. Allow students time to draft and practice their speeches. These speeches may be given in person or filmed based on student and/or classroom needs.
To close this phase, move to slide 29, where students will use the 3-2-1 instructional strategy to reflect on their learning. This reflection should summarize three things they learned, two challenges they overcame, and one improvement they would make if given more time. Pass out one half-page of the 3-2-1 handout and allow students time to work. Note: you may either choose to pick up these responses or have students add them to their notebooks.
Resources
Hidden Figures: The untold history of indigenous code talkers. Secret History Files. Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PePrbx5IAQs
K20 Center. (n.d.). 3-2-1. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/117
K20 Center. (n.d.). Canva. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/612
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elevator speech. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/57
K20 Center. (n.d.). Figma. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/3756
K20 Center. (n.d.). Glow and grow. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/4962
K20 Center. (n.d.). KWHL graphic organizer. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/127
K20 Center. (n.d.). Padlet. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1077
K20 Center. (n.d.). Plus delta chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/2904
Louridas, P. (n.d.). A history of cryptography from the Spartans to the FBI. MIT Press Reader. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-history-of-cryptography-from-the-spartans-to-the-fbi/
Okrent, A. (2010). In the land of invented languages. Random House.
Peterson, D. J. (2015). The art of language invention. Penguin Books.
Translinguist Team. (2025). How to speak Pig Latin like a pro. Blog. https://translinguist.com/blog/pig-latin/
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Egyptian hieroglyphs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_hieroglyphs#Origin
Wikipedia. (n.d.). The rosetta stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone
Wikipedia. (n.d.). What was the Ancient Egyptian alphabet? https://www.historyforkids.net/ancient-egyptian-alphabet.html