Text Encoding (ASCII & Unicode)

👩‍🏫 Teacher’s Guide

Objective

Students will explain that computers store text as numbers using encoding systems like ASCII and Unicode and recognize why Unicode supports many languages.

Teaching Notes

Explain encoding as a code that matches characters to numbers.
Use a simple example: letters can be represented by numbers.
Compare ASCII (older, fewer characters) vs Unicode (many languages and emojis).
Keep it high-level; no need to memorize specific codes.

🧒 Student Worksheet

Concept and Helping Material

Computers store letters and symbols as numbers. Text encoding is a system that matches each character to a number. ASCII is an older system with fewer characters, and Unicode supports many languages and emojis.

Computer Vocabulary and Definition

— A system that changes text into numbers.
— A letter, number, symbol, or emoji.
— An older text code with fewer characters.
— A text code that supports many languages and symbols.
— A small picture character like 😀.

Computer QA

1. What is encoding?

2. What is a character?

3. What is ASCII?

4. What is Unicode?

5. What is an emoji?

6. True or False: Computers store text as pictures only.

7. True or False: Computers store text as numbers.

8. Why do we need text encoding?

9. Which supports more languages: ASCII or Unicode?

10. Can Unicode include emojis?

11. Is ‘A’ a character?

12. Is ‘7’ a character?

13. Is ‘!’ a character?

14. Can Unicode represent Chinese or Arabic letters?

15. Why is Unicode useful today?

16. Does ASCII work for every language?

17. What happens if text is not encoded correctly?

18. True or False: Encoding helps computers send text messages.

19. What is one place you see Unicode?

20. What is one reason encoding matters?

Computer Prtactices

Character hunt: Circle characters in a sentence (letters, numbers, symbols).
Emoji talk: List 5 emojis and explain what they mean.
ASCII vs Unicode chart: Write 2 features of each in simple words.
Message experiment: Write your name and add one emoji to show Unicode symbols.

Reflection

Why is Unicode helpful?
What is one kind of character besides letters?