Quick. Name another female scientist…. Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark is a beautifully illustrated book of an amazing role model for our girls. The story takes us through Grace’s childhood which is probably similar to our girls. She was curious, creative, adventurous, and loved to doodle! She had a fascination with math and became a trailblazing computer scientist.
But of all her amazing traits, my favorite one is grit.
“Grit is working really hard to make a future a reality and living life like a marathon and not a sprint” – Angela Lee Duckworth
Did Grace always make all A’s? No. She failed Latin but she worked hard and passed.
Did all of her computer programs work? No. But she found the very first computer bug, a moth!
Did life always go her way? Of course not! She was forced to retire from the Navy saying she was too old to serve.
But that didn’t stop her and that is why Grace Hopper is this month’s featured scientist. Her life story wasn’t about getting everything the easy way but instead how she responded to the challenges of life. You can find this great book here. You can find more female scientists on She Loves Science here.
So to celebrate the Queen of Code, and learn a little computer code yourself, you can make these tasty Twizzler Necklaces!
What you need: Rainbow Twizzler Twists and jelly cord. (Not only are they fun colors but I found that Rainbow Twizzlers are easier to string on a necklace than regular Twizzlers.)
How to do it:
- Use this key ASCII binary code to decipher the letters of the alphabet
- Decide what secret word you want to put on your necklace (we chose the word ‘LOVE’ which is fourteen 1’s and thirteen 0’s)
- Cut two colors of Twizzlers to 1-1/2″ sections ( You’ll get about 7 sections per rope)
- String the last letter on first and tie a knot
- Continue stringing the binary code for each letter with a knot in between letters
- Tie a bow to connect the ends of the necklace together
What’s the science?
Here is a fun video of why computers use a binary system of 1’s and 0’s to represent numbers and letters. This was a great hands on way to learn coding while making super fun gifts for friends! What kid doesn’t like a decoding challenge? (Actually the real challenge is to not eat it before you decipher the code!)
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