CODES AND COMMUNICATION INQUIRY
Developing Your Code
DAY 2 ACTIVITY
15-20 Minutes
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Learn about Morse code
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Create your “Coded Message"
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Paper or notebook
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Writing tool
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“Drafting Template” handout (optional) - make sure to print as separate pages, single-sided
THIS WEEK
We’re thinking about
the question:
"How can we communicate with others to share our thoughts and ideas?"
Your challenge this week is to connect to someone using a “Coded Message.”
Let's Get Started!
Before telephone, television, or internet, how do you think people might have sent messages across a great distance?
Read on to learn more about Morse code. Morse code was one way people used to communicate over a great distance.
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Morse code is a system of sending messages that uses combinations of short (the dot) and long (the dash) sound signals to spell out messages.
• a "dot" is a short signal
— a "dash" is a long signal
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Morse code is named after artist and inventor Samuel Morse, who helped invent the code more than 200 years ago.
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A telegraph is a machine that turns Morse code into electrical signals and sends them across a wire. The machine on the receiving end turns these signals back into messages.
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Morse code is used across languages and around the world. Anyone can use it by simply writing symbols, flashing a light, or making sounds to represent dots and dashes. Modern technology has largely replaced Morse code, but it is still used for remote or emergency situations, radio communication, and in the military.
Check out this video about Morse code.
If you want to find out even more, you could explore this optional article: “Creation of Morse Code Helped Open Communications Around Globe."
Keep in mind your challenge this week: Connect to someone using a “Coded Message.”
Today, you will create your first draft of your “Coded Message.”
Your “Coded Message” should:
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Tell who you would like to communicate with
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Explain why it’s important to communicate with this person at this moment in time
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Include a message that can be decoded using the suggested code below, Morse code (pictured above), or by making up your own code! (If you like, you may use the “Drafting Template” handout to write out your idea.)
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Be sure to save the draft of your “Coded Message” so you can work on it next time!
Ready for Day 3?
On day 3, you will reflect on your progress and make a plan to improve your work.