Year 9 – Lesson 1 – Binary mosaic

Digital pictures are formed out of individual pixels (picture elements), just like the Greek and Roman mosaics are formed out of individual pieces of glass or stone. However, unlike their ancient counterparts, the elements in digital mosaics are aligned in rows and columns, with the colour of each element represented as a sequence of binary digits.

In this lesson, learners will create digital mosaics pixel by pixel, and experience how an image composed of individual coloured elements can correspond to a sequence of binary digits. This will help them form an initial understanding of how the images that they encounter daily in their digital devices translate to nothing more than long strings of bits.