CODES & CIPHERS - LEVEL 1
Hi spy school students. Congratulations on figuring out my code. Shows you're ready to be a spy. Make sure you have a spy school notebook to practice your codes in! Learning Codes is all about practice. Please complete all the homework. I will be checking.
Level 1: Lesson One
POT TERCES
The very first code spy cadets learn is the POT TERCES code, where you simply write each word backwards. Here, POT = Top and TERCES = Secret.
Try writing: I AM A SPY backwards.
Did you get it right? Check your answers at the bottom of this page :)
Homework: Practice writing some other POT TERCES codes.
The very first code spy cadets learn is the POT TERCES code, where you simply write each word backwards. Here, POT = Top and TERCES = Secret.
Try writing: I AM A SPY backwards.
Did you get it right? Check your answers at the bottom of this page :)
Homework: Practice writing some other POT TERCES codes.
Level 1: Lesson Two
A=B
In A=B code, A = B, B = C, C = D and so on.
It is a good idea to first write out the alphabet and then write the alphabet again underneath it, this time starting with B:
ABCD EFGH IJKL MNOP QRST UVWX YZ
BCDE FGHI JKLM NOPQ RSTU VWXY ZA
Remember to put A on the end!
Now you can use the alphabets to write secret messages. Find the letter you want on the alphabet at the top, then look at the letter directly below the letter you want. This is the code letter.
E.g. SECRET PASSWORD becomes TFDSFU QBTTXPSE
Try writing: SPYING IS FUN
Did you get it right? Check your answers at the bottom of this page :)
Homework: Practice writing some other A=B codes. Then see if you can make an A=C code :)
In A=B code, A = B, B = C, C = D and so on.
It is a good idea to first write out the alphabet and then write the alphabet again underneath it, this time starting with B:
ABCD EFGH IJKL MNOP QRST UVWX YZ
BCDE FGHI JKLM NOPQ RSTU VWXY ZA
Remember to put A on the end!
Now you can use the alphabets to write secret messages. Find the letter you want on the alphabet at the top, then look at the letter directly below the letter you want. This is the code letter.
E.g. SECRET PASSWORD becomes TFDSFU QBTTXPSE
Try writing: SPYING IS FUN
Did you get it right? Check your answers at the bottom of this page :)
Homework: Practice writing some other A=B codes. Then see if you can make an A=C code :)
Level 1: Lesson Three
BOOK CODE
For this code you need to have 2 identical books - a school textbook works well. There are different ways to do this but to write a basic book code you find the word in the book that you want to include in your message and write down the page number, the line number (counting the lines of text from top to bottom) and the number of the word in that line (e.g is it the first, second, third or fourth word along etc). Write each code on a new line. Ignore titles and subtitles.
The code will look something like this:
2-14-5
4-13-7
Homework: Find two identical books and try writing a code to a spy cadet friend. They can write a code back to you. Remember to keep it a secret from prying eyes! Keep your codes out of sight!
(Forrester, 1992)
For this code you need to have 2 identical books - a school textbook works well. There are different ways to do this but to write a basic book code you find the word in the book that you want to include in your message and write down the page number, the line number (counting the lines of text from top to bottom) and the number of the word in that line (e.g is it the first, second, third or fourth word along etc). Write each code on a new line. Ignore titles and subtitles.
The code will look something like this:
2-14-5
4-13-7
Homework: Find two identical books and try writing a code to a spy cadet friend. They can write a code back to you. Remember to keep it a secret from prying eyes! Keep your codes out of sight!
(Forrester, 1992)
Level 1: Lesson 4
SPACE CODE
No, this isn't to do with being in outer space! This is to do with the spaces in a coded sentence. There are several ways to do this code. First, start with a sentence:
MY FRIEND IS A BLUE DUCK
Then simply group the letters into different "words".
MYFRI ENDIS ABLUE DUCKX
See how the word "friend" is broken up by a space? You can change where you put the spaces to make it more difficult.
MYFR IENDIS ABL UEDUCKX
Or, you can even write the whole thing backwards. This is quite tricky.
KCUDE ULBAS IDNEIR FYMX
Homework: Write a space code to a spy friend. Then write a backwards space code. Show it to your other friends and see if they can figure it out. The backwards one is really hard to figure out at first glance!
(Callery, 2006)
No, this isn't to do with being in outer space! This is to do with the spaces in a coded sentence. There are several ways to do this code. First, start with a sentence:
MY FRIEND IS A BLUE DUCK
Then simply group the letters into different "words".
MYFRI ENDIS ABLUE DUCKX
See how the word "friend" is broken up by a space? You can change where you put the spaces to make it more difficult.
MYFR IENDIS ABL UEDUCKX
Or, you can even write the whole thing backwards. This is quite tricky.
KCUDE ULBAS IDNEIR FYMX
Homework: Write a space code to a spy friend. Then write a backwards space code. Show it to your other friends and see if they can figure it out. The backwards one is really hard to figure out at first glance!
(Callery, 2006)
Level 1: Lesson 5
VOWEL CODE
This code is simple but effective. All you have to do is remember the vowel order: AEIOU. Each vowel in your message is changed to the next vowel in the order. For example,
I HAVE A LARGE NOSE
turns into
O HEVI E LERGI NUSI
All the other letters stay the same!
Homework: Send a Vowel code to a spy friend. Have them send one back to you!
(Forrester, 1992)
This code is simple but effective. All you have to do is remember the vowel order: AEIOU. Each vowel in your message is changed to the next vowel in the order. For example,
I HAVE A LARGE NOSE
turns into
O HEVI E LERGI NUSI
All the other letters stay the same!
Homework: Send a Vowel code to a spy friend. Have them send one back to you!
(Forrester, 1992)
Level 1: Lesson 6
ATBASH CIPHER
At what? ATBASH. In this cipher, A=Z. That means, B = Y, C = X and so forth. It's called ATBASH because it was used by Hebrew scribes to encrypt some of the Bible.
Here it is:
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
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
So,
I AM A CAMEL
Becomes
R ZN Z XZNVO
It's a good idea to learn the alphabet backwards. You never know when you might need it. You might be on a game show and they want to see who can say the alphabet backwards, the fastest. You might win something. Might. You never know. Here is a helpful pattern to learning the alphabet backwards. It even rhymes!
ZYX
WV
UTS
RQP
ONM
LKJ
IHG
FED
CBA
Homework: Write an ATBASH cipher and send it to a spy friend. Then, learn the alphabet backwards!
(Callery, 2006)
At what? ATBASH. In this cipher, A=Z. That means, B = Y, C = X and so forth. It's called ATBASH because it was used by Hebrew scribes to encrypt some of the Bible.
Here it is:
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
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
So,
I AM A CAMEL
Becomes
R ZN Z XZNVO
It's a good idea to learn the alphabet backwards. You never know when you might need it. You might be on a game show and they want to see who can say the alphabet backwards, the fastest. You might win something. Might. You never know. Here is a helpful pattern to learning the alphabet backwards. It even rhymes!
ZYX
WV
UTS
RQP
ONM
LKJ
IHG
FED
CBA
Homework: Write an ATBASH cipher and send it to a spy friend. Then, learn the alphabet backwards!
(Callery, 2006)