Curriculum
Safety and Security Online: Grades 6-8
Smart, Safe, and Secure Online
Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about Internet safety and security from CyberSmart!
Overview
Students consider some security challenges related to e-mail, instant messaging, and free downloads—spam, malware attachments, electronic chain letters, and phishing—discussing ways of handling them safely and responsibly. Then they create cartoons and comics to educate others about cyber security.
Objectives
- Describe security challenges related to e-mail, instant messaging, and free downloads.
- Explain how to handle spam, attachments from unknown sources, and free download offers.
- Use creativity to communicate security messages to families.
ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007
Source: International Society for Technology in Education- Communication and Collaboration
- interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
- communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
- Digital Citizenship
- advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
- exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
Home Connection
Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.
Site Preview
The following Web site is recommended for optional student research:
Optional strategies for using Web 2.0 tools with your students are recommended under Teach 4 and Extend.
Materials
- Activity Sheets (3)
Introduce
- Discuss some possible ways to manage incoming postal mail. For example, someone may review, sort, and distribute the mail and may throw away junk mail without opening it.
- Discuss how households handle incoming telephone calls from salespeople, free offers from marketers, and people asking for confirmation of private identity information. For example, some parents may insist that all such calls be handed over to an adult or given a standard “No, thank you” followed by a hang up.
- Point out that e-mail, IM, and any offers of free stuff online should be handled in similar ways.
Teach 1
- Distribute Activity Sheet 1.
- Have students read and complete the page individually or in small groups and then share their responses with the rest of the class. NOTE: Postpone discussion until students have read and applied the information presented on Activity Sheets 2 and 3.
- Make sure students understand that some commercial Web sites (often pornography sites) are intentionally designed to be difficult for the user to exit.
Teach 2
- Distribute Activity Sheets 2 and 3 for students to read and discuss.
- Explain that phishing is one of many techniques used by criminals for identity theft. You may wish to have students learn more about identity theft by researching online. A good place to start is the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Site.
- Identity theft is also addressed in the Grades 6–8 lesson titled Private and Personal Information. [Link to lesson plan page]
Teach 3
- Have students revisit Activity Sheet 1 and discuss how their answers might be changed or enhanced.
Teach 4: Take Action
- Explain to students that technological security solutions alone, such as firewalls and antivirus software, cannot secure a computer or network. Security experts say that the first line of defense is educating people about keeping security software up to date, using strong passwords, and effectively handling tempting messages that do get through their systems. The use of cartoons and comics has been shown to be an effective means of communicating security education content to people—even adults in businesses.
- Ask: What is it about comics and cartoons that might make them effective in teaching others about computer security? (Answers may include that pictures make it easier to understand and that characters and/or humor makes a message easier to remember.)
- Once students have jotted down their ideas on the activity sheet, allow them to create their cartoons and comics on sheets of drawing paper.
Use Web 2.0 tools that enhance student productivity and creativity by allowing them to collaborate in brainstorming on a social networking site. Consider allowing some students to turn their cartoon ideas into 3-D animations or create a digital story using the cartoons as the images. Publish students' final products on a public repository site, a wiki, or a class blog and invite family and public comments.
Assess
The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.
- Ask: How can spam cause damage to computer files or computers? (Spam can have malware attached to it, which if downloaded can infect computers. Spam can also be a phishing scam designed to steal private identity information.)
- Ask:What are some simple rules to follow to handle spam and avoid malware? (Don't open messages from senders you do not recognize. Don't download screensavers, free software, unidentified files, or images unless you know the source is trustworthy. Use security software. Do regular file backups.)
- Ask:How can cartoons and comics be used to deliver cyber security education? (Answers will vary.)
Extend
- Students will benefit by revisiting this lesson each year.
- For students who completed this lesson in a previous grade, have them do online research to learn about specific forms of malware (for example, spyware, adware, Trojans, viruses, browser hijackers, Web bugs, and keyloggers) and create cartoons and comics teaching other students about these specific threats.
Use Use social bookmarking Web 2.0 tools that allow students to store, comment on, and share with one another the Web sites that they have found useful when researching malware.
Cyber Safety and Security Awareness Activities for Your School, Families, and Community
Extend this classroom lesson with activities that will support a cyber safety and security awareness campaign for your school, families, and community.
includes strategies for using interactive online Web 2.0 tools.
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