Secret Messages – STEAM activity

Our STEAM activity for March is to do with secret messages. We all love to keep a secret, but sometimes it can be hard, but if you write it in a coded message – maybe it will stay safe?! Can you create a message and get a friend or family member to crack your code, and reveal the message?

How is this activity related to PK Porthcurno?

People have nearly always wanted to keep some messages secret. This could be challenging, especially if you wanted to send your message a long way by telegraph. Many people would be able to see your message along the way.

Sometimes the need for secrecy was during a war. Today, almost everyone needs secret messages, even if they don’t realise it. Keeping communication secret, or
cryptography, is what makes internet shopping and banking safe.

Did you know?

One of the easiest ways to keep a message secret is by hiding it. People you don’t want to see your message won’t even know there is a message. The person you want to send the message to needs to know where to find it. This is called steganography.

In one of the earliest examples of steganography, it is said that a messenger’s head was shaved, and the message was written (or even tattooed!) on their head. After their hair had grown back, they were sent to deliver the message. The people they were sent to would know to shave their head and read the message. We don’t think this would be very useful for urgent messages!

Download the instructions to create your own secret message!

Test our codebreaking skills by sending your enciphered messages to us.
(Don’t put any real secrets in them!)

#PKPorthcurno #SecretMessages #SteamExplorers #PlayfulMuseums