Maths Week 2007 – Ciphers (KS4)
Time
Activity
Starter
10 mins
Decode the lesson objectives as written as an anagram.
By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 Decode messages using different ciphers
Foundation
Add keywords to the board as they are used.
Main
10 mins
15 mins
15 mins
Follow the worksheet as described – answers attached.
Caesar Ciphers
Keyword Ciphers,
Pig Pen.
Plenary
10 mins
Decode a joke: What do you call an adorable angle?
An acute angle
(Keyword: verybadmthsjok)
Review lesson objectives and now full list of key words.
Lesson objectives
By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 Dedeoc smseesga ginsu tenferdif scrieph
The above is the most basic of all encoded messages. Can you decipher
it?
Challenge!
Decode this message using a keyword cipher.
Maths Week 2007 – Ciphers (KS4)
Intermediate
Time
Activity
Starter
5 mins
Using the Caesar cipher at the top of the worksheet, decode the lesson
objectives.
By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 Decode messages using different ciphers
Add keywords to the board as they are used.
Main
10 mins
15 mins
20 mins
Follow the worksheet as described – answers attached.
Keyword Ciphers,
Pig Pen
Conversation using any of the previous ciphers.
Plenary
10 mins
Decode a joke: What do you call an adorable angle?
An acute angle
(Keyword: verybadmthsjok)
Review lesson objectives and now full list of key words.
LESSON OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 GHFRGH PHVVDJHV XVLQJ GLIIHUHQW
FLSKHUV
Challenge!
Decode this message using a keyword cipher.
Maths Week 2007 – Ciphers (KS4)
Higher
Time
Activity
Starter
5 mins
Using the Caesar cipher at the top of the worksheet, decode the lesson
objectives.
By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 Decode messages using different ciphers
Add keywords to the board as they are used.
Main
5 mins
10 mins
35 mins
Follow the worksheet as described – answers attached.
Keyword Ciphers,
Pig Pen,
Runes.
Plenary
5 mins
Ask class – Does anyone recognise the symbols used at the end of the
lesson?
Runes – Linked to Vikings – Lord of the Rings
Review lesson objectives and now full list of key words.
LESSON OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson you will be able to:
 GHFRGH PHVVDJHV XVLQJ GLIIHUHQW
FLSKHUV
© 1996 Daniel Steven Smith
Links to resources for Ciphers week
Codes & Ciphers
We commission leading academic centres of excellence to develop resources for use by teachers
of mathematics, science and technology. The first set of resources is aimed at mathematics, and is
based around the topic of Codes & Ciphers. They were released at the end of March 2005, and
can be freely downloaded from this page (scroll down to see them).
http://www.nationalcodescentre.org/edu/teachers/maths.rhtm
http://www.omnicron.com/~ford/java/NMorse.html
Type in a message and watch it translated into Morse Code
symbols, and then actually listen to the sounds of the now coded
message.
(Beginning in the mid 19th century, people used Morse Code to
send telegraphs.)
http://www.upennmuseum.com/hieroglyphsreal.cgi
Type in your name and click the button to see how it would look in
the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
(Ancient and modern languages use symbols and letters to
represent meaning. In Ancient Egypt, they used a system called
hieroglyphics.)
http://www.nationalcodescentre.org/edu/yc/links.rhtm