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Crack the Code

Crack the Code

Create a secret message and a cipher to decode it. Then challenge classmates to crack the code.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Brass Paper Fastener(s)
  • Paper
  • Ruler

Steps

  • Step 1

    Discuss cryptography, the use of codes and ciphers to protect information. The first phase of this practice began thousands of years ago in medieval times. The second phase - the mechanization of cryptography - began around WWI and continues to today. Wireless telegraphy could be easily intercepted by enemy forces, so allies sent encrypted communications. Besides encrypting messages, it was also important to try to crack the codes of enemy transmissions.

  • Step 2

    Substitution ciphers are codes in which a letter or word is replaced by a different symbol. Have students create their own cipher. They can create a code wheel by cutting out a circle and dividing it into 26 wedges - one for each letter - and then indicating what symbol will stand for that letter. Then they can write a coded message on another piece of paper using the symbols of the cipher.

  • Step 3

    When the wheel is done, have students trade their ciphers and code wheels with classmates to reveal the hidden message.

Standards

LA: Integrate visual information (e.g. in drawings, graphics, maps, or videos) with other information to convey meaning.

LA: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Adaptations

Have students research Germany's Enigma machine and Alan Turing, whose work to crack the code contributed to Allied victories during WWII; and the code talkers, who were Native Americans employed by the military to use their native language (Navajo was the major one, but there were others as well) to send messages.

Ask students to learn about the genetic code - a set of "rules" used by cells to translate information encoded with genetic material (DNA or RNA) into proteins.