Sending Messages through “Morse code” NATURE Sunday Academy

The History of Morse Code

The Task In the 1800’s, communication over wires had been established. Europe, French, British, Germans all had patents on various telegraphy designs, by such people as Charles Wheatstone They were, however, complicated and unreliable. An American Republic prize existed for an efficient communications system that covered the Atlantic Coast. Prior communications were done by optical signaling, which had distance and weather conditions issues.

Samuel Morse April 24, 1791 In Charlestown, MA Born: Education: Occupation: Degree in Art and Sculpture from Yale University Painter of Portraits and other art. Created over 200 portraits during his lifetime. Got involved in Electricity later in life.

Communications Issues Samuel Morse found existing communications frustrating. During one of several trips to Europe aboard the Sully in 1832, he discussed electricity and long distance communication with Dr. Charles Thomas Jackson, a medical doctor who also worked with electricity and magnetism, and who dabbled with the telegraph himself.

In Pursuit of a Design In 1835, Morse’s career as an artist was not feeding his family. Knowing that others were working on the telegraph as well, he got to work on his own design. Charles Wheatstone was one of the competitors. Wheatstone used 5 circuits, two were energized to send a letter. J, C, Q, U, X and Z had to be omitted, though, making words difficult.

Timeline to Demonstrations 1838: Demonstrated messaging on 3 miles of wire around New York University Exhibition Hall 1843: Morse finally secured a $30,000 grant to make a demonstration Original Line made between Baltimore to Washington DC. Insulation failures prevented underground installation, B&O Railroad Counsel John Latrobe convinced Morse to string the wires on poles along the rail track.

Convincing Demonstration May 24, 1844: Messages were sent back and forth between Baltimore and the Supreme Court chamber, including the infamous phrase: “What Hath God Wrought” Messages from the capital to Baltimore in the ensuing days and weeks gave the Baltimore Patriot the scoop over rivals, and the value of the telegraph as a communication media was firmly established. Newspapers touted the transmission via “Telegraph” across their mastheads.

Start of Commercial Business Samuel Morse made his first patent application in 1837. Attempted to sell his invention to the government for $100,000. Started the Magnetic Telegraph Company in 1845. Western Union bought up the various telegraph companies in 1857. Royalties made Morse quite wealthy by the end of the Civil War.

Session Timeline 11:00 – 11:30 Cultural Connection/Brief Introduction 11:30 – 12:00 Background/PowerPoint 12:00 – 12:45 Lunch 12:45 – 1:15 Activity 1 – Code and Decode Messages Using Morse Code 1:15 – 2:00 Activity 2 – Computer Activity with Morse Code 2:00 – 2:30 Activity 3 – Build a Telegraph Circuit 2:30 – 3:00 Activity 4 – Use Telegraph to Send Morse Code Message

Activity 1 Code and Decode Messages Using Morse Code Write the Following in Morse Code: Reduce, reuse and recycle Write your name (include your middle name) The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Write your phone number (include your area code)

Activity 2 Morse code Translator

Activity 2 Continued.., Part 2: Play the Morse code Game Part 3: Play Super Morse Code RPG

Activity 3 Building a Telegraph System

Summary Questions Morse code for SOS is______________________________________ Morse code was invented in ________________________________ You would need to major in __________________________________ disciplines (art or engineering …?) in order to understand various encryption and decryption techniques like the Morse code lesson you learned about today.