By
CRACK THE -.- --- -.. .!
Here’s a chart that translates every letter and number into Morse Code. When you’re “saying” something in code, say “dit” for a dot and “DAH” for a dash. So the letter “R” is “dit-DAH-dit!” A “DAH” will be 3 “dits” long. Between each letter, leave a space the length of a dit. Between each word, leave a space the length of a dah. After a sentence, leave a 5-dit space. Use a metronome if you have trouble keeping to a rhythm. Your goal is to be able to tap out each letter or number as one solid rhythm, with no spaces inside. Then, put the letters together to make messages. Start with your name!
•A – D –•• G ––• J –•– M –– • –P– • S ••• V •••– – •Y – –
B –••• E • H •••• –K– • N –• Q ––•– T – W •–– Z ––••
C –•–• F ••–• I •• L •–•• O ––– R •–• U ••– X –••– 1 •–––– 4 ••••– 7 ––••• ––0–– –
Mysterious Benedict Society -- -.-- ... - . .-. .. --- ..- ... | -... . -. . -.. .. -.-. - | ... --- -.-. .. . - -.-TRANSLATE…
1) --. .-. . .- - -.- .- - . .-- . .- - .... . .-. -- .- -.-. .... .. -. . 1)_________________________________________ 2) . -..- . -.-. ..- - .. ...- . ... .- -. -.. -- . ... ... . -. --. . .-. ... 2)__________________________________________
AND PRACTICE!
3) Sticky Washington 3)___________________________________________ 4) Reynie Muldoon 4)_________________________________
2 3 ••––– •••–– 5 6 ••••• –•••• – –8 • • – – 9 – • – –
Believe it or not, Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was one of the best portrait painters in New York City. He even ran (unsuccessfully) for mayor! While discussing electromagnets on a voyage from England, he came up with the idea for a elegraph machine. He made one a few years later out of a canvas stretcher, a home-made battery, and parts of an old clock. He wasn’t the first to invent the telegraph, but he was the first to popularize his special code of “dots and dashes” that would allow you to type messages across a wire from one telegraph machine to another. He eventually got support from the government to build a telegraph line from Baltimore, MD to Washington, DC. In May, 1844, he sent the first inter-city electromagnetic message: “What Hath God Wrought.”
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers • Hachette Book Group USA • www.nomansanisland.com