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Morse Code Unit Study – Badge Resources

Morse Code Unit Study – Badge Resources

Enjoy our Morse Code Unit Study as a resource for earning your Morse Code badge. Fun badges to earn alongside include badges such as the WWII badge, the Spy badge, Historic Era – 1800’s or 1940’s, Invention badge, and Biographies – Samuel Morse.

What Is Morse Code?

Morse Code is an alphabet in which letters and numbers are represented by combinations of long and short signals of light or sound or printed via dots and dashes otherwise known as dits and dahs. With the invention of the telegraph it became possible for the first time to send messages over long distances. This was done by using pulses of electricity to signal a machine to make marks on a moving paper tape. The marks were limited however so a code was needed in order to decipher the marks so that messages would make sense.

To Do: Learn your name in Morse Code. Write it and say it using sound (dit=dot and dah=dash).

To Do: The most common Morse Code message that is usually learned is SOS. SOS is an international code signal of extreme distress and a call for help. Learn how write SOS in Morse Code as well as to broadcast it via sound such as tapping or with a whistle and with light such as with a flashlight turning on and off.

Fulfills Preschool requirements 1 & 2 and Level 2 #2

Wireless Equipment, Type A Mk III (Suitcase Radio) British (COM 229) A Type A Mk III (Type 21 Mk III) stereo transmitter and receiver radio set, set within a miniature suitcase for use by British SOE and intelligence agents during the Second World War Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30005779

The History of Morse Code

Morse code plays an important role in world history. Combined with the telegraph, it was the first way to send instant communications long distances. Morse code also changed the way wars were fought as information regarding movements could be sent by spies or coordinated by the military.

  • 1800 – Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invents the battery
  • 1820 – Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted demonstrates the connection between electricity and magnetism by deflecting a magnetic needle with an electric current.
  • 1837 – The first commercial telegraph is developed by William Forthergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone
  • 1838 – Samuel F. B. Morse, along with Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail, invent an improved electrical telegraph system.
  • 1843 – Morse and Vail receive funding from the U.S. Congress to set up and test their telegraph system between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland.
  • 1844 – Morse sends Vail the historic first message: “What hath God wrought!” 
  • 1874 – Quadruplex system is invented by Thomas Edison which allowed for four messages to be transmitted simultaneously using the same wire.
  • 1861 – Western Union lays the first transcontinental telegraph line, making it the first nationwide telegraph company.
  • 1866 – The first permanent telegraph cable is successfully laid across the Atlantic Ocean
  • 1905 – The international Morse code distress signal ( · · · — — — · · · ) is first used by the German government
  • 1910 – U.S. Navy experiments with sending Morse code from an airplane
  • 1940 – The British create the SOE (Special Operations Executive ) to help local resistance movements and conduct espionage and sabotage in enemy-held territories. Their main form of communication was Morse code sent via small portable radios.
  • 1999 – Morse code is replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System as the international standard for maritime distress.
  • July 12, 1999 – The United States sends its final commercial Morse code transmission signing off with Samuel Morse’s original 1844 message, what hath god wrought, and the prosign sk (“end of contact”).

To Do: Create a timeline of Morse Code history. Try writing your events in Morse Code.

Fulfills Level 1 requirement #1 and Level 4 requirement #2

The Telegraph

While the telegraph is no longer used today, its role in the history of communication rivals that of both the printing press and Internet. For the first time in history, communication was no longer limited to the speed at which a physical message could pass between locations. Military leaders could send instant orders to distant battlefields. Businesspeople set commodity prices on opposite sides of the globe. And the Associated Press was created as a way to disseminate timely news updates around the world. As important as the telegraph was however, it would have been useless with Morse code and a way to read messages.

To Do: Watch the video below to learn about how the telegraph was invented and the Morse Code created.

Fulfils Level 3 requirement #2 or optional requirement 8

Light and Sound

While Morse code was created for the telegraph, this simple code is also very effective using light and sound. Signal lamps date back as far at 1867 which used Morse code to signal to and from ships. And survivalists for decades have learned how to tweet a simple S.O.S. on a whistle in case of emergency.

To Do: Learn to signal S.O.S. using both a flashlight as well as a whistle or other sound instrument. 

To Do: Listen to the audio sounds of Morse Code in the video below. Then try tapping out a short word or message in Morse Code and see if a friend can decode it. You can also use the Morse Code Translator from Morse Code World to write and listen to longer messages.

Fulfills Level 1 requirement #2

Sending and Receiving Messages

The purpose behind Morse code is simply to send accurate messages over a distance quickly. Sending the message is only half of the exercise though. Someone at the other ends needs to be able to decipher the message or it doesn’t do anyone any good. Just because you learn Morse code does not mean you will be able to communicate with it. The person you are communicating with must know it as well.

To Do: Use the free printable Morse Code Worksheet from the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum to practice deciphering various Morse Code words. Then swap messages with a friend and see if you can read them. You can also use the Morse Code Translator from Morse Code World to write longer messages quickly.

Fulfills optional requirement 5 and 7

Morse Code As an Assistive Technology

Since the 1970’s Morse Code has been used as a way for people with physical disabilities to communicate. Even with limited mobility people can either tap out or blink a message using Morse Code. In today’s technological world the concept of Morse Code is used as the basis for a variety of computerized assistive technology. For example there are now mobile phone human-interface systems that use a single-switch Morse code input device so that people with physical disabilities can send text messages and enter information into their phones.

To Do: Try using eye blinks to send a message to someone.

How to Build a Telegraph

Fulfills optional requirement #9

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