Building Cyber-Safe Thinkers: Unplugged Cybersecurity Lessons for Middle School Students

Slides
CSTA Conf2026
Unlock the world of cybersecurity without a single device! In this interactive session, educators will explore inclusive, unplugged activities that make middle school cybersecurity concepts tangible and fun. We’ll introduce three hands-on activities: a “Risk Detectives” challenge where students learn to identify threats and weigh tradeoffs between security and convenience; an “Access Denied” challenge that lets students role-play authentication and permissions, modeling how digital and physical controls protect information; and a “Who’s Who in Cyber?” activity that connects students to...