CODES & CIPHERS - LEVEL 3
Congratulations on figuring out my code. I am Mr Sypher and I will be your Level 3 Codes teacher. Remember to write notes in your spy school notebook and make sure you do the homework. I will be checking.
Level 3: Lesson One
MORSE CODE CODE
No, you read correctly. Morse Code Code. In 'The Secret Agent's File' by Martyn Forrester, they teach an awesome code known as Morse Code Code.
WARNING: You need to know Morse Code really well for this code so don't do this lesson until you have done Level 2 Codes.
For Morse Code Code you write out a Morse Code message using vowels for the dots and consonants for the dashes. The vowels are AEIOU. All other letters in the alphabet are consonants.
So for example:
HELLO or .... . .-.. .-.. --- could become
AUIO E ATEA ESIO MNPX
See how the vowels show dots and the consonants show dashes?
AUIO E ATEA ESIO MNPX
. . . . . . - . . . - . . - - -
You can use any letters for the consonants and any vowels for the vowels as it only shows whether it is a dot or a dash. It doesn't show a letter. The 'X' at the end shows the end of the word. It doesn't show a letter.
This code means HELLO as well:
IOUA A ISIA OGOI TYZX
Exercise: What does this Morse Code Code say?
AEI ETTE IO O AEIX ET IRO IX TETE GHF QWS IPEIX
Remember that X means the end of the word. Check the answers at the bottom of this page.
Homework: This code takes a lot of practice. Get a spy friend and practice writing Morse Code Codes to each other.
(Forrester, 1992)
No, you read correctly. Morse Code Code. In 'The Secret Agent's File' by Martyn Forrester, they teach an awesome code known as Morse Code Code.
WARNING: You need to know Morse Code really well for this code so don't do this lesson until you have done Level 2 Codes.
For Morse Code Code you write out a Morse Code message using vowels for the dots and consonants for the dashes. The vowels are AEIOU. All other letters in the alphabet are consonants.
So for example:
HELLO or .... . .-.. .-.. --- could become
AUIO E ATEA ESIO MNPX
See how the vowels show dots and the consonants show dashes?
AUIO E ATEA ESIO MNPX
. . . . . . - . . . - . . - - -
You can use any letters for the consonants and any vowels for the vowels as it only shows whether it is a dot or a dash. It doesn't show a letter. The 'X' at the end shows the end of the word. It doesn't show a letter.
This code means HELLO as well:
IOUA A ISIA OGOI TYZX
Exercise: What does this Morse Code Code say?
AEI ETTE IO O AEIX ET IRO IX TETE GHF QWS IPEIX
Remember that X means the end of the word. Check the answers at the bottom of this page.
Homework: This code takes a lot of practice. Get a spy friend and practice writing Morse Code Codes to each other.
(Forrester, 1992)
Level 3: Lesson Two
PLAYING CARD CODE
In the book, 'Code Busters', by Ken Ross, they introduce a code that can be done with ordinary playing cards. This rather neat code can be used during a card game between spies. Fortunately you have 52 cards in a pack, which can be split into 26 and 26. There are 26 letters in the alphabet so that makes things easier for us spies.
The red cards are for single letters. A to M are Hearts. N to Z are Diamonds.
The black cards are for double letters. A to M are Spades. N to Z are Clubs.
Here is an example: 8H 5H QS 2D 6D 3D QD
See if you can figure it out using the chart below to help you.
Hearts: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Diamonds: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen Kng
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spades: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
AA BB CC DD EE FF GG HH II JJ KK LL MM
Clubs: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
NN OO PP QQ RR SS TT UU VV WW XX YY ZZ
Homework: Write your own code in Playing Card Code and send it to a spy friend. Get them to do the same for you. Then see if you can invent another code using playing cards. E.g. You could make a Playing Card Morse Code Code. Red cards could be vowels and black cards could be consonants so HELLO or .... . .-.. .-.. --- could be:
2H, 3D, 8H, 9D 2D, 4H 2H, FS, 8H, 9D 3H, 9C, QH, KD 8S, 2C, 9C
(Henderson Publishing, 1996)
In the book, 'Code Busters', by Ken Ross, they introduce a code that can be done with ordinary playing cards. This rather neat code can be used during a card game between spies. Fortunately you have 52 cards in a pack, which can be split into 26 and 26. There are 26 letters in the alphabet so that makes things easier for us spies.
The red cards are for single letters. A to M are Hearts. N to Z are Diamonds.
The black cards are for double letters. A to M are Spades. N to Z are Clubs.
Here is an example: 8H 5H QS 2D 6D 3D QD
See if you can figure it out using the chart below to help you.
Hearts: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Diamonds: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen Kng
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spades: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
AA BB CC DD EE FF GG HH II JJ KK LL MM
Clubs: Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Jack Queen King
NN OO PP QQ RR SS TT UU VV WW XX YY ZZ
Homework: Write your own code in Playing Card Code and send it to a spy friend. Get them to do the same for you. Then see if you can invent another code using playing cards. E.g. You could make a Playing Card Morse Code Code. Red cards could be vowels and black cards could be consonants so HELLO or .... . .-.. .-.. --- could be:
2H, 3D, 8H, 9D 2D, 4H 2H, FS, 8H, 9D 3H, 9C, QH, KD 8S, 2C, 9C
(Henderson Publishing, 1996)
Level 3: Lesson Three
SECRET PASSWORD CIPHER
For this cipher you need to choose a password which has no double ups of letters. E.g. ORANGE is good but APPLE is not as it has two Ps. To make this cipher you simply put the password first and then the rest of the letters in the alphabet after, making sure to take out the letters you've already used in the password. Here is an example of how this would work. Say the password is ORANGE - then O would become A, R would become B and so on.
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
O R A N G E B C D F H I J K L M P Q S T U V W X Y Z
Now I can use this to write a message. Decode the following message: Check the bottom of the page for the answer!
CD SMY. TCG MOSSWLQN DS LQOKBG RUT YLU OIQGONY HKGW TCOT.
Homework: Send a password cipher message to your spy friend. Make sure they know they password! You must send them the password separately from the message. Otherwise if the message and the password are together and it falls into enemies hands they will be able to decipher your message!
(Callery, 2006)
For this cipher you need to choose a password which has no double ups of letters. E.g. ORANGE is good but APPLE is not as it has two Ps. To make this cipher you simply put the password first and then the rest of the letters in the alphabet after, making sure to take out the letters you've already used in the password. Here is an example of how this would work. Say the password is ORANGE - then O would become A, R would become B and so on.
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
O R A N G E B C D F H I J K L M P Q S T U V W X Y Z
Now I can use this to write a message. Decode the following message: Check the bottom of the page for the answer!
CD SMY. TCG MOSSWLQN DS LQOKBG RUT YLU OIQGONY HKGW TCOT.
Homework: Send a password cipher message to your spy friend. Make sure they know they password! You must send them the password separately from the message. Otherwise if the message and the password are together and it falls into enemies hands they will be able to decipher your message!
(Callery, 2006)
ANSWERS
Level 3: Lesson One
SPIES ARE COOL
Level 3: Lesson Two
HELLO SPY
Level 3: Lesson Three
HI SPY. THE PASSWORD IS ORANGE. BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT.
SPIES ARE COOL
Level 3: Lesson Two
HELLO SPY
Level 3: Lesson Three
HI SPY. THE PASSWORD IS ORANGE. BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT.