Curated OER
Ocean Morse Code
Students gain knowledge of the maritime importance of Morse code and enjoy applying this information to decipher Morse code messages from other students.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography Inventors
This site provides information on American inventors Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Singer, Wilbur Wright, Thomas Alva Edison, Elias Howe, and Alexander Graham Bell. It offers pictures from and...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Morse Code
Here is a comprehensive entry for Morse Code that includes the history, the difference between American Morse Code and Modern International Morse Code, a chart of the letters and numbers, many sample audio recordings, and more.
Historica Canada
History by the Minute: Marconi
Part of a video series, this clip profiles Marconi who made possible the first wireless message transmitted from England to Cabot Tower, Newfoundland. Learn more about this innovative man and his even more amazing achievement. Links to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: What Is Bluetooth?
Students learn about electrical connections, how they work, and their pervasiveness in our world. Two specific skills explored are Morse code and the function of Bluetooth. Using bluetooth, they control LEGO robots remotely from Android...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Communicating With Light: People
Who uses light to communicate? Go from sea to shining sea as we visit a lighthouse, board a Navy ship, and take a stroll on the red carpet! Students will investigate different ways of communicating with light and at the end of the lesson...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Samuel F. B. Morse
An account of Samuel Morse's life and career, with links to related information. Uses popups for photos.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Samuel F. B. Morse
An account of Samuel Morse's life and career, with links to related information.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Electric Messages: Then and Now
Lesson investigates electronic communication from the Morse Code system to text messaging. To learn about this, students construct simple circuits, send messages to each other, and explore the history and impact of communication.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: The Second Industrial Revolution
An overview of the achievements that occurred during the second Industrial Revolution are found on this site. It includes information on gas and electric power, communications, public transportation, the motor and flight industries, and...
PBS
Pbs: Who Made America?: Innovators: Samuel Morse
Contrary to myth, Samuel Morse did not invent the telegraph, but he made key improvements to its design, and his work to deploy it would transform communications worldwide.
Other
Canadian Government: Department of Defence: Canadian Navy: Operation Stealth Comm
Semaphore Flag signals and Morse Code are explained here. These are still part of the training in the Canadian Navy despite all the technology available today.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Lincoln's High Tech War
Describes the weaponry used during the Civil War, and some of the innovative technology that the Union's military forces employed. These included the minie ball, rifles, underwater torpedoes, the use of hot air balloons, and improved...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Morse Telegraph 1844
The man most commonly associated with the telegraph, Samuel Morse, did not invent the communications tool. But he developed it, commercialized it and invented the famous code for it that bears his name.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution Forgotten History: Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse
This article explains Alfred Vail's partnership with Samuel Morse and his contributions to the development of the telegraph.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Wake Up, America: Industrial Revolution in America [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that looks at the technological advances of early nineteenth-century America and the birth of the Industrial Revolution in America.
Maryland Science Center
Maryland Science Center: Diy Telegraph [Pdf]
Instructions for how to build a telegraph device for sending a message in Morse code.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Inventors and Inventions
The industrial revolution in America spawned the inventions of many inventors, who improved technology in many different areas. See how transportation, agriculture, and communications were transformed because of these inventions.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Physics Simulation: Telegraph
[Free Registration/Login Required] Explore the concept of Morse Code and how signals are transferred over great distances by using telegraph machines based on electromagnets using our interactive simulation. A PDF worksheet and a video...
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1393: Inventing the Telegraph
Read about the history of the telegraph in this article, which is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
South Carolina Educational Television
Kids Work!: History of Telecommunications
An in-depth look at inventions and developments that had an impact on telecommunication.
Other
Samuel Finley Breeze Morse
Provides biographical information on Samuel Morse as well as information on his invention of the telegraph. (Pictures no longer load.)
Library of Congress
Loc: A Historic Message
This site, which is provided for by the Library of Congress, gives information on the first telegraph invented and the first message ever transmitted.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Famous Americans: Samuel Morse
Learn brief information concerning Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, who was featured on the two cent postage stamp.