Unit 0 · The Big Picture · Lesson 0.4

The Whole System

Networks, hackers, data, AI — one connected story.

Big PictureNo grade — participation

Before this lesson — read on Runestone

Short pages, a few minutes each. Enrolled in our Runestone course? Open them from there so your progress counts.

1

Where We Are

People → Bits → Programs → Internet → Security → Big Data → Impact

The full map, lit for the first time. Every region is a unit. Every arrow is something you will be able to explain.

2

The Hook

The questions we skipped.On Monday we traced your photo and quietly ignored four things. What if a wire is cut? Who else can see it? What does the app learn from a billion photos like yours? And who does all this leave out? Those four questions are the rest of the course.
3

The Idea

Each of those questions is a whole field, and each one has a home on the map above.

Nothing in this course is a separate topic. It is one system, and you are learning it one region at a time.
4

Try It

Card sort: everything has a home

In pairs, you get about fifteen cards with terms on them — packet, encryption, big data, bias, server, algorithm, password, pixel, and others. Most of them you have never been taught.

Place each card on the map region where you think it belongs. Guess. Argue with your partner. There is no grade on this.

Then we compare as a class, and every region gets its unit number written on it. Take a photo of your finished map before you leave.

Why this matters later: this exact map is the semester final's “rebuild it from memory” task, and again in April before the exam. You are being told that in week one on purpose.
5

Vocabulary

You only need to recognize these today. Every one gets taught properly later.

No new terms today — this is a consolidation lesson.

6

Think About It

Before you go

  1. Which region are you most curious about?
  2. Which one sounds hardest? Write both down — we will check in December whether you were right.
Sign in first if you want Mr. Muller to see it.
7

Connections

Came from 0.1 — same photo trip, with the hard questions put back in.
Every unit from here — opens by showing you which region you are standing in.
Week 17 and April — you rebuild this map from memory, twice.
← 0.3 Machines Follow Instructions