Search the California Content Standards

Standard:
Explain potential security threats and security measures to mitigate threats.

Descriptive Statement:
Cybersecurity is an important field of study and it is valuable for students to understand the need for protecting sensitive data. Students identify multiple methods for protecting data and articulate the value and appropriateness for each method. Students are not expected to implement or explain the implementation of such technologies. For example, students could explain the importance of keeping passwords hidden, setting secure router administrator passwords, erasing a storage device before it is reused, and using firewalls to restrict access to private networks. Alternatively, students could explain the importance of two-factor authentication and HTTPS connections to ensure secure data transmission.

Standard:
Apply multiple methods of information protection to model the secure transmission of information.

Descriptive Statement:
Digital information is protected using a variety of cryptographic techniques. Cryptography is essential to many models of cybersecurity. At its core, cryptography has a mathematical foundation. Cryptographic encryption can be as simple as letter substitution or as complicated as modern methods used to secure networks and the Internet. Students encode and decode messages using encryption methods, and explore different levels of complexity used to hide or secure information. For example, students could identify methods of secret communication used during the Revolutionary War (e.g., ciphers, secret codes, invisible ink, hidden letters) and then secure their own methods such as substitution ciphers or steganography (i.e., hiding messages inside a picture or other data) to compose a message from either the Continental Army or British Army. (HSS.8.1) Alternatively, students could explore functions and inverse functions for encryption and decryption and consider functions that are complex enough to keep data secure from their peers. (CA CCSS for Mathematics 8.F.1)

Standard:
Justify the selection of specific control structures by identifying tradeoffs associated with implementation, readability, and performance.

Descriptive Statement:
The selection of control structures in a given programming language impacts readability and performance. Readability refers to how clear the program is to other programmers and can be improved through documentation. Control structures at this level may include, for example, conditional statements, loops, event handlers, and recursion. Students justify control structure selection and tradeoffs in the process of creating their own computational artifacts. The discussion of performance is limited to a theoretical understanding of execution time and storage requirements; a quantitative analysis is not expected. For example, students could compare the readability and program performance of iterative and recursive implementations of procedures that calculate the Fibonacci sequence. Alternatively, students could compare the readability and performance tradeoffs of multiple if statements versus a nested if statement.

Standard:
Iteratively design and develop computational artifacts for practical intent, personal expression, or to address a societal issue by using events to initiate instructions.

Descriptive Statement:
In this context, relevant computational artifacts can include programs, mobile apps, or web apps. Events can be user-initiated, such as a button press, or system-initiated, such as a timer firing. For example, students might create a tool for drawing on a canvas by first implementing a button to set the color of the pen. Alternatively, students might create a game where many events control instructions executed (e.g., when a score climbs above a threshold, a congratulatory sound is played; when a user clicks on an object, the object is loaded into a basket; when a user clicks on an arrow key, the player object is moved around the screen).

Standard:
Refine computational models to better represent the relationships among different elements of data collected from a phenomenon or process.

Descriptive Statement:
Computational models are used to make predictions about processes or phenomena based on selected data and features. They allow people to investigate the relationships among different variables to understand a system. Predictions are tested to validate models. Students evaluate these models against real-world observations. For example, students could use a population model that allows them to speculate about interactions among different species, evaluate the model based on data gathered from nature, and then refine the model to reflect more complex and realistic interactions.

Standard:
Compare and contrast security measures to address various security threats.

Descriptive Statement:
Network security depends on a combination of hardware, software, and practices that control access to data and systems. The needs of users and the sensitivity of data determine the level of security implemented. Potential security problems, such as denial-of-service attacks, ransomware, viruses, worms, spyware, and phishing, present threats to sensitive data. Students compare and contrast different types of security measures based on factors such as efficiency, feasibility, ethical impacts, usability, and security. At this level, students are not expected to develop or implement the security measures that they discuss. For example, students could review case studies or current events in which governments or organizations experienced data leaks or data loss as a result of these types of attacks. Students could provide an analysis of actual security measures taken comparing to other security measure which may have led to different outcomes. Alternatively, students might discuss computer security policies in place at the local level that present a tradeoff between usability and security, such as a web filter that prevents access to many educational sites but keeps the campus network safe.

Standard:
Compare and contrast cryptographic techniques to model the secure transmission of information.

Descriptive Statement:
Cryptography is a technique for transforming information on a computer in such a way that it becomes unreadable by anyone except authorized parties. Cryptography is useful for supporting secure communication of data across networks. Examples of cryptographic methods include hashing, symmetric encryption/decryption (private key), and assymmetric encryption/decryption (public key/private key). Students use software to encode and decode messages using cryptographic methods. Students compare the costs and benefits of using various cryptographic methods. At this level, students are not expected to perform the mathematical calculations associated with encryption and decryption. For example, students could compare and contrast multiple examples of symmetric cryptographic techiques. Alternatively, students could compare and contrast symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic techniques in which they apply for a given scenario.

Standard:
Demonstrate the flow of execution of a recursive algorithm.

Descriptive Statement:
Recursion is a powerful problem-solving approach where the problem solution is built on solutions of smaller instances of the same problem. A base case, which returns a result without referencing itself, must be defined, otherwise infinite recursion will occur. Students represent a sequence of calls to a recursive algorithm and show how the process resolves to a solution. For example, students could draw a diagram to illustrate flow of execution by keeping track of parameter and returned values for each recursive call. Alternatively, students could create a video showing the passing of arguments as the recursive algorithm runs.

Standard:
Evaluate the ability of models and simulations to test and support the refinement of hypotheses.

Descriptive Statement:
A model could be implemented as a diagram or a program that represents key properties of a physical or other system. A simulation is based on a model, and enables observation of the system as key properties change. Students explore, explain, and evaluate existing models and simulations, in order to support the refinement of hypotheses about how the systems work. At this level, the ability to accurately and completely model and simulate complex systems is not expected. For example, a computer model of ants following a path created by other ants who found food explains the trail-like travel patterns of the insect. Students could evaluate if the output of the model fits well with their hypothesis that ants navigate the world through the use of pheromones. They could explain how the computer model supports this hypothesis and how it might leave out certain aspects of ant behavior and whether these are important to understanding ant travel behavior. Alternatively, students could hypothesize how different ground characteristics (e.g., soil type, thickness of sediment above bedrock) relate to the severity of shaking at the surface during an earthquake. They could add or modify input about ground characteristics into an earthquake simulator, observe the changed simulation output, and then evaluate their hypotheses.

Standard:
Develop solutions to security threats.

Descriptive Statement:
Designing and implementing cybersecurity measures requires knowledge of software, hardware, and human components and understanding tradeoffs. Students design solutions to security threats and compare tradeoffs of easier access and use against the costs of losing information and disrupting services. For example, students could refine a technology that allows users to use blank or weak passwords. Alternatively, students could implement a firewall or proxy protection between an organization's private local area network (LAN) and the public Internet. Additionally, students could find and close exploitable threats on an infected computer in order to protect information.