Practical Project II – SS3 Digital Technologies Lesson Note (Third Term)

A digital technologies practical project is a small working demonstration that you build, test and present to your teacher or examiner. This note covers two kinds: cybersecurity simulations, such as a password strength checker and a phishing demo, and IoT demos, such as a smart light and a remote temperature monitor.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• describe how a password strength checker tests a password;
• explain how a phishing simulation works and how to check a URL;
• describe the input, brain and output of a smart light system;
• explain how a remote temperature tracker sends data to a dashboard;
• present a practical project, explain its algorithm and reflect on the problems solved.

What is a cybersecurity simulation?

A cybersecurity project must be legal. You build a simulation to show people how to stay safe, and you think like a defender.

Project idea: the password strength checker

You can build a simple app that asks a user for a password and then “attacks” it with logic.

• The logic: Does the password have numbers? Is it longer than 8 characters? Does it have symbols?
• The output: The app tells the user: “Your password is weak! A hacker could guess this in 2 seconds.”

The goal: You are teaching awareness. In your report, explain that most hackers do not “break in”. They “trick” people into giving them the key.

How do you simulate a phishing attack?

Another practical project is demonstrating how phishing works.

1. The setup: Create a fake login page that looks exactly like a popular social media site (using simple HTML).
2. The trap: When someone types their “username” and “password”, your code does not log them in. It simply displays: “STOP! You just gave your password to a fake site.”
3. The lesson: Show your classmates how to check the URL (the web address) to see if it is the real site or a fake one.

Important note: Always tell people it is a test before they type anything. The goal is to show how easy it is to be fooled by a fake screen.

What is an IoT demo?

IoT (Internet of Things) projects are about making objects “talk” to each other. For a school project, you do not need expensive gear. You can simulate how a smart home works.

Project idea: the smart light system

Imagine a light that turns on only when it is dark.

• The input: A light sensor (detects how bright the room is).
• The brain: A small controller (like an Arduino or even just a software simulation).
• The output: An LED light turns on.

Even if you do not have the physical sensors, you can write a program where you click a “Night” button and see a virtual light bulb turn on on your screen.

Project idea: the remote temperature tracker

Another popular project is a remote temperature tracker.

• The story: A farmer has a greenhouse. He needs to know if his plants are too hot while he is at home.
• The tech: A sensor reads the heat. It sends that data over the network to a “dashboard” (a simple website or app).
• The alert: If the heat goes above 35°C, the system sends a message to the farmer’s phone or screen saying: “Warning! Your plants are melting!”

In your project, focus on connectivity. How does the data get from the sensor to the screen? Usually, it goes through a “gateway” or a cloud server.

How do you present your practical?

When it is time to show your project to your teacher or the external examiner, remember that presentation is 50% of the mark.

1. The demo: Do not just show the code. Show the “thing” in action. Let them click the buttons or trigger the sensors.
2. The logic: Be ready to explain your algorithm. If the examiner asks, “What happens if the Wi-Fi goes down?”, have an answer ready (for example, “The system stores the data locally until the internet returns”).
3. The reflection: What was the hardest part? Maybe it was getting the sensor to read correctly or getting the fake login page to look real. Examiners want to hear how you solved problems.

Project checklist

• Cybersecurity: Focus on “protecting” and “detecting”.
• IoT: Focus on “sensing” and “connecting”.

Security first: Never use your projects to store real people’s private data.

Evaluation

1. State three checks a password strength checker can make.
2. Describe the three steps of a phishing simulation.
3. Name the input, the brain and the output of the smart light system.
4. In the greenhouse project, how does the data get from the sensor to the farmer?
5. Why should you tell people it is a test before they use your phishing simulation?

Assignment

Choose one project from this lesson. Write a short plan that states what it does, the logic or parts it needs (input, brain and output, or the steps of the simulation), and how you would explain it to an examiner.