Page 26 - My FlipBook

Codes and Creases:

Exploring the Fun Side

of Mathematics

Reported by:
Jr2Z(2) Emily Kuok Yee Han

uring the weekly Kuen Cheng High School Independent Learning Day on the
D8th of July 2023, students of Junior Middle One and Two participated in an

activity which involved deciphering codes and completing simple paper folding using their
knowledge in Mathematics, thus allowing them to experiment with a side of the subject that
lay hitherto undiscovered.

For the first part of the activity, the students divided themselves into groups of two

and worked on deciphering secret messages which were written in the form of binary and
octal numbers on the given question sheet. The students had to convert the binary and
octal numbers into numbers of the decimal system in the range of 1-26. Each decimal
number stood for an alphabet (e.g. 1=a, 2=b), and once every single number in the row was
successfully converted, the students would then discover that the row of numbers turned out
to be an encoded message, which consisted of various inspirational and witty quotes. It was a
sufficiently entertaining and mind-stimulating experience for everyone, which resulted in a
huge wave of satisfaction once they had succeeded in deciphering all of the codes.

The next session that followed was a simple paper-folding activity. The students
folded the papers according to the instructions and guidance given by the senior students in
charge of coordinating the activity in each respective class. They had to complete four sets

in total, and after they had completed the final step for each set, they would then discover
that the creases at the centre, top centre and bottom centre of each respective paper formed
an equilateral triangle. Everyone had great fun folding the papers as they wondered how
the steps would take them to progress towards the final result. Overall, it was a wonderful
experience for everyone.

Once the activity had been completed, the seniors played a video regarding
different types of codes which were used to send confidential messages to others without
being interpreted by other parties, such as the Morse code and the Caesar cypher, providing
much valuable insight for all the students.

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