Morse Code Activities
Samuel Morse and Morse Code Day Activity Pack Contents: □ Short Sounds and Long Sounds □ International Morse Code Chart □ Comparing Standard American Morse Code to International Morse Code □ Code Challenges □ Looking at Patterns □ Graphing the Length □ Art Ideas □ Making a Morse Code Tree Note: I’ve included a boatload of activities to explore Morse code from many different angles. Most families will pick one or two that look fun. Please don’t feel compelled to do them all!
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 2
Short Sounds and Long Sounds There are so many ways to make sounds! Some sounds are a short beat, like when you clap your hands! Some sounds can be longer, like when you hum or whistle a tune! You can make sounds with your body, and you can make sounds with things around the house!
Draw a picture of something that makes a short sound.
Draw a picture of a way to make a long, sustained sound.
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 3
International Morse Code Print out this sheet for reference as you learn more about Morse Code!
A ●▬
N ▬●
B ▬●●●
O ▬▬▬
C ▬●▬●
P ●▬▬●
D ▬●●
Q ▬▬●▬
E ●
R ●▬●
F ●●▬●
S ●●●
G ▬▬●
T ▬
H ●●●●
U ●●▬
I ●●
V ●●●▬
J ●▬▬▬
W ●▬▬
K ▬●▬
X ▬●●▬
L ●▬●●
Y ▬●▬▬
M ▬▬
Z ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 4
Standard American Morse Code vs. International American Code Standard American Morse Code
International Morse Code
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
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Standard American Morse Code vs. International Morse Code Some Things to Notice Samuel Morse’s original code was actually just a code for each of the numbers 0 through 9. Those sending and receiving code would look up a word in a code book and then send the appropriate numbers to correspond with the code. Morse’s friend Alfred Vail helped him to expand the code to include letters and a few extra characters. When Morse Code became popular in other countries, it was adapted to be more versatile for other languages. Compare Standard American Morse Code on the left with International Morse Code on the right. Use one color to shade boxes where the code is the same in both systems and another color to shade boxes where the code is different so that you can see where changes were made. Here are some important things to note. 1. SAMC uses one beat for dits and two beats for dahs. Spacing between dits and dahs was not regular between letters. Sometimes two letters uses exactly the same dits and dahs in exactly the same order, the only difference was the spacing between them. Compare, for example, the SAMC for the letters R and S or the letters Y and Z. (This is why the chart for SAMC has to be displayed differently than the traditional dots and dashes you are used to seeing.) 2. IMC, on the other hand, uses a very regular set of rules of rhythm to make it easily understood by the listener.
Rules for the Rhythm of Morse code: 1. Every dit (dot) is one beat long. 2. Every dah (dash) is three beats long. 3. The space between dits and dahs in the same letter is exactly one beat long. 4. The space between letters in the same word is exactly three beat long. 5. The space between words is exactly seven beats long. © 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 6
Code Challenges Try out some of these challenges. They increase in difficulty as you go!
1. Write a word in Morse code for a friend to read. 2. Decode a word someone has written in Morse code. 3. Write a word in Morse code using only Dits (dots) or Dahs (dashes). 4. Write a Sentence in Morse code. (Be sure to follow the rules for the rhythm of Morse code found on p. 6) 5. Convey a letter or word in Morse Code by using sounds. (You’ll have to find a way to make short sounds and sustained sounds!) 6. Listen as someone else conveys a letter or word in Morse code using sounds. See if you can figure out the letter or word. 7. See who can write a word using the fewest Morse code beats (total of dits and dahs and space) or the fewest average beats per letter. 8. Rhythm matters in Morse code. For example, the word “LOW” and the word “ENEMY” both use exactly the same sequence of dits and dahs, but with different spacing. See if you can find other pairs of words that have the same relationship!
L
O
W
●▬●● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬
E N E M
Y
● ▬● ● ▬ ▬ ▬ ● ▬ ▬
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 7
Looking for Patterns 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
●▬▬▬▬ ●●▬▬▬ ●●●▬▬ ●●●●▬ ●●●●● ▬●●●● ▬▬●●● ▬▬▬●● ▬▬▬▬● ▬▬▬▬▬
To the left is a chart showing the code for the ten basic numerals. Take a close look at the symbols. How many dits (dots) and dahs (dashes) are used for each number? Do you notice a pattern of change from one number to the next? (For another perspective, look at the layout below, with the numbers 1-5 on the left and 6-0 on the right.) Why do you think the code was developed in a pattern like this? Do you think the pattern would make the code easier to learn and remember? If you want to test it out, cut apart the code strips below. How quickly can you sort them into the proper order? Do you think observing the pattern helped you to sort them?
●▬▬▬▬
▬●●●●
●●▬▬▬
▬▬●●●
●●●▬▬
▬▬▬●●
●●●●▬
▬▬▬▬●
●●●●●
▬▬▬▬▬
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 8
How Long Did It Take? How long would it have taken to send each of the International Morse Code Symbols? Graph the length of each symbol. Remember these rules: 1. 2. 3. 4.
A dit is one A dah is three A space between dits or dahs is one You may color in dits, dahs and spaces all one color or use a different color for each
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 9
How Long Did It Take? (Answer Key) If you would prefer to examine a pre-made graph rather than make your own, here’s a ready made copy.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 10
Art Ideas Here are some fun ways to make visual depictions of Morse code.
1. Make a Morse code necklace. a. Younger children can make a necklace strung on yarn using oshaped cereal as the dits (dots) and rigatoni pasta as the dahs (dashes). b. Older children can use two colors of pony beads. Use one color for “sound” and another color for “silence”. Remember to follow the rules for the rhythm of Morse code found on p. 6 2. Use graph paper to make a design in Morse code. a. Follow the rules of the rhythm of Morse code and make a sentence or phrase traveling from left to right across a row. When you get to the end of a row, simply continue on the next row. When you finish the sentence, begin again, continuing the pattern until your area is complete. b. Make a “skyline” sentence using Morse code. Graph each letter on a different column. Use different colors for dits and dahs or leave spaces to show dits and dahs. Leave a one-column space between words. (See p. 10 as an example of what each letter might look like.)
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 11
Make a Morse Code Tree One way that people learn Morse Code is to picture it in a diagram, arranged by whether each subsequent sound is a dit or a dah. Can you fill in your own Morse Code Tree? First, add the appropriate symbols to the chart and then find the correct letter to correspond to the series of symbols. (The first row is done for you.) Dit (Dot)
Dah (Dash)
●
▬
E
T
Note: Not all boxes on the bottom row will be used! Some Morse Code Trees continue for an additional row in order to be able to add in numerals and other characters. Make your own tree on separate paper if you’d like to add in those features! © 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 12
Make a Morse Code Tree (Answer Key)
Dit (Dot)
Dah (Dash)
●
▬
E
T
●●
●▬
▬●
▬▬
I
A
N
M
●●●
●●▬
●▬●
●▬▬
▬●●
▬●▬
▬▬●
▬▬▬
S
U
R
W
D
K
G
O
●●●●
●●●▬
●●▬●
●▬●●
●▬▬●
●▬▬▬
▬●●●
▬●●▬
▬●▬●
▬●▬▬
▬▬●●
▬▬●▬
H
V
F
L
P
J
B
X
C
Y
Z
Q
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 13
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 2
Short Sounds and Long Sounds There are so many ways to make sounds! Some sounds are a short beat, like when you clap your hands! Some sounds can be longer, like when you hum or whistle a tune! You can make sounds with your body, and you can make sounds with things around the house!
Draw a picture of something that makes a short sound.
Draw a picture of a way to make a long, sustained sound.
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 3
International Morse Code Print out this sheet for reference as you learn more about Morse Code!
A ●▬
N ▬●
B ▬●●●
O ▬▬▬
C ▬●▬●
P ●▬▬●
D ▬●●
Q ▬▬●▬
E ●
R ●▬●
F ●●▬●
S ●●●
G ▬▬●
T ▬
H ●●●●
U ●●▬
I ●●
V ●●●▬
J ●▬▬▬
W ●▬▬
K ▬●▬
X ▬●●▬
L ●▬●●
Y ▬●▬▬
M ▬▬
Z ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 4
Standard American Morse Code vs. International American Code Standard American Morse Code
International Morse Code
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 5
Standard American Morse Code vs. International Morse Code Some Things to Notice Samuel Morse’s original code was actually just a code for each of the numbers 0 through 9. Those sending and receiving code would look up a word in a code book and then send the appropriate numbers to correspond with the code. Morse’s friend Alfred Vail helped him to expand the code to include letters and a few extra characters. When Morse Code became popular in other countries, it was adapted to be more versatile for other languages. Compare Standard American Morse Code on the left with International Morse Code on the right. Use one color to shade boxes where the code is the same in both systems and another color to shade boxes where the code is different so that you can see where changes were made. Here are some important things to note. 1. SAMC uses one beat for dits and two beats for dahs. Spacing between dits and dahs was not regular between letters. Sometimes two letters uses exactly the same dits and dahs in exactly the same order, the only difference was the spacing between them. Compare, for example, the SAMC for the letters R and S or the letters Y and Z. (This is why the chart for SAMC has to be displayed differently than the traditional dots and dashes you are used to seeing.) 2. IMC, on the other hand, uses a very regular set of rules of rhythm to make it easily understood by the listener.
Rules for the Rhythm of Morse code: 1. Every dit (dot) is one beat long. 2. Every dah (dash) is three beats long. 3. The space between dits and dahs in the same letter is exactly one beat long. 4. The space between letters in the same word is exactly three beat long. 5. The space between words is exactly seven beats long. © 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 6
Code Challenges Try out some of these challenges. They increase in difficulty as you go!
1. Write a word in Morse code for a friend to read. 2. Decode a word someone has written in Morse code. 3. Write a word in Morse code using only Dits (dots) or Dahs (dashes). 4. Write a Sentence in Morse code. (Be sure to follow the rules for the rhythm of Morse code found on p. 6) 5. Convey a letter or word in Morse Code by using sounds. (You’ll have to find a way to make short sounds and sustained sounds!) 6. Listen as someone else conveys a letter or word in Morse code using sounds. See if you can figure out the letter or word. 7. See who can write a word using the fewest Morse code beats (total of dits and dahs and space) or the fewest average beats per letter. 8. Rhythm matters in Morse code. For example, the word “LOW” and the word “ENEMY” both use exactly the same sequence of dits and dahs, but with different spacing. See if you can find other pairs of words that have the same relationship!
L
O
W
●▬●● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬
E N E M
Y
● ▬● ● ▬ ▬ ▬ ● ▬ ▬
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 7
Looking for Patterns 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
●▬▬▬▬ ●●▬▬▬ ●●●▬▬ ●●●●▬ ●●●●● ▬●●●● ▬▬●●● ▬▬▬●● ▬▬▬▬● ▬▬▬▬▬
To the left is a chart showing the code for the ten basic numerals. Take a close look at the symbols. How many dits (dots) and dahs (dashes) are used for each number? Do you notice a pattern of change from one number to the next? (For another perspective, look at the layout below, with the numbers 1-5 on the left and 6-0 on the right.) Why do you think the code was developed in a pattern like this? Do you think the pattern would make the code easier to learn and remember? If you want to test it out, cut apart the code strips below. How quickly can you sort them into the proper order? Do you think observing the pattern helped you to sort them?
●▬▬▬▬
▬●●●●
●●▬▬▬
▬▬●●●
●●●▬▬
▬▬▬●●
●●●●▬
▬▬▬▬●
●●●●●
▬▬▬▬▬
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 8
How Long Did It Take? How long would it have taken to send each of the International Morse Code Symbols? Graph the length of each symbol. Remember these rules: 1. 2. 3. 4.
A dit is one A dah is three A space between dits or dahs is one You may color in dits, dahs and spaces all one color or use a different color for each
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 9
How Long Did It Take? (Answer Key) If you would prefer to examine a pre-made graph rather than make your own, here’s a ready made copy.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
●▬ ▬●●● ▬●▬● ▬●● ● ●●▬● ▬▬● ●●●● ●● ●▬▬▬ ▬●▬ ●▬●● ▬▬ ▬● ▬▬▬ ●▬▬● ▬▬●▬ ●▬● ●●● ▬ ●●▬ ●●●▬ ●▬▬ ▬●●▬ ▬●▬▬ ▬▬●●
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 10
Art Ideas Here are some fun ways to make visual depictions of Morse code.
1. Make a Morse code necklace. a. Younger children can make a necklace strung on yarn using oshaped cereal as the dits (dots) and rigatoni pasta as the dahs (dashes). b. Older children can use two colors of pony beads. Use one color for “sound” and another color for “silence”. Remember to follow the rules for the rhythm of Morse code found on p. 6 2. Use graph paper to make a design in Morse code. a. Follow the rules of the rhythm of Morse code and make a sentence or phrase traveling from left to right across a row. When you get to the end of a row, simply continue on the next row. When you finish the sentence, begin again, continuing the pattern until your area is complete. b. Make a “skyline” sentence using Morse code. Graph each letter on a different column. Use different colors for dits and dahs or leave spaces to show dits and dahs. Leave a one-column space between words. (See p. 10 as an example of what each letter might look like.)
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 11
Make a Morse Code Tree One way that people learn Morse Code is to picture it in a diagram, arranged by whether each subsequent sound is a dit or a dah. Can you fill in your own Morse Code Tree? First, add the appropriate symbols to the chart and then find the correct letter to correspond to the series of symbols. (The first row is done for you.) Dit (Dot)
Dah (Dash)
●
▬
E
T
Note: Not all boxes on the bottom row will be used! Some Morse Code Trees continue for an additional row in order to be able to add in numerals and other characters. Make your own tree on separate paper if you’d like to add in those features! © 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 12
Make a Morse Code Tree (Answer Key)
Dit (Dot)
Dah (Dash)
●
▬
E
T
●●
●▬
▬●
▬▬
I
A
N
M
●●●
●●▬
●▬●
●▬▬
▬●●
▬●▬
▬▬●
▬▬▬
S
U
R
W
D
K
G
O
●●●●
●●●▬
●●▬●
●▬●●
●▬▬●
●▬▬▬
▬●●●
▬●●▬
▬●▬●
▬●▬▬
▬▬●●
▬▬●▬
H
V
F
L
P
J
B
X
C
Y
Z
Q
© 2017 by Homeschooling without Training Wheels
http://www.hswotrainingwheels.com 13
