Free Resources About the Telegraph and Telephone Inventions
Published:
April 7, 2021
Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa
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Communication is the cornerstone of our society. These free resources about the telegraph and the telephone inventions will help your students learn about the evolution of communication.
Can you think of what we would do without any form of communication or even electronic communication? Many societies live with it, yet ours has become accustomed – if not dependent – on it.
One of the inventions that has really changed our world is the innovation of electronic communications which has only occurred within the last 100 years.
It all began with the telegraph.
The telegraph is the long-distance transmission of written messages that does’t require the physical transport of letters. It works via electric pulses in a special code depicted by long and short marks (usually Morse Code).
Telegraphs in the 1700s originally contained a zillion (I am being sarcastic) wires. In 1844, Samuel Morse perfected a telegraph that only needed one wire. Soon after, telegraphs were all over the United States.
The telephone was invented forty years later. Alexander Graham Bell grabbed the patent for the telephone, and soon after people no longer needed to hear beeps of sound to transmit messages.
People were now able to transmit their voice messages over long distances through electric wires. Sometime later, large switching networks were built all across the world.
The networks allowed telephones to be connected in almost any home in order for people to instantly communicate with each other.
Help your kids learn more about the history of the inventions known as the telegraph and eventually the telephone. They were both an evolution to get us to the smartphones and technologically-inclined communication we have today.
Grab these free resources about the telegraph and the telephone inventions:
Telegraph
- The Telegraph Set the Stage for Email and Texting | Homeschool Holiday
- History of the Electric Telegraph and Telegraphy | ThoughtCo.
- Morse Code & the Telegraph | History.com
- Invention of the Telegraph (Video) | Kean University
- A Brief History of the Telegraph | Arts and Culture (Google)
- The Invention of the Telegraph – History of the Telegraph | Science Wiz
- Telegraphy Facts for Kids | Kids.Kiddle
- Facts for Kids – Telegraph | Facts Just for Kids
- History of Telegraph – Video | Quixot Kids – Story
Learn about Samuel Morse
Samuel Morse and Morse Code Day (Books, Activities, and Resources) | Homeschooling without Training Wheels
- Samuel Morse FREE Coloring Page | Raising Our Kids
- FREE Science Studies: Samuel Morse & the Telegraph | DIY Homeschooler
Explore these activities to go alongside your resources on the Telegraph
- FREE Printable Morse Code Sheet | Picklebums
- Printable Morse Code FREE Chart | Printer Projects
- Binary Code for Kids- Spelling Shark FREE Printables | JDaniel4’sMom
- FREE Morse Code Message – Break the Code | Love to Teach
- FREE Morse Code Flash Cards | Printable Flashcards
- 8+ Sample Morse Code Chart FREE Templates in PDF/MS Word | Sample Templates
- Celebrate Morse Code Day in Your Homeschool Unit Study and Activities | iHomeschoolNetwork
Telegraph STEM/STEAM Projects
- A Homemade Telegraph Machine (VIDEO) | Vimeo
- How to Build Simple Telegraph Sets | W1TP
- Simple Telegraph Key and Sounder | Instructables Circuits
- Homemade Telegraph Video and Lesson | Sciphile
Telephone
- History of the Telephone | CNET
- The Glory Days of the Telephone Infographic | Earthly Mission
- Learning about the History of Telephones for Kids (Unit Study) | The Pinay Homeschooler
- History of the Telephone (50 examples of models) | Click Americana
- Infographics – Telephone History | Prop Agenda
- The Fascinating History of the Telephone | HubPages
- A Visual History of the Telephone | Slate.com
- History of the Telephone for Kids (Video) | Stephanie Tigges
Explore these activities to go alongside your resources on the Telephone
- Go Over a Teen Cell Phone Contract | iMom
- Learning Telephone Numbers FREE Printable | Spell OUTLOUD
- How to Teach Phone Numbers | Teaching Mama
Free resources to learn about Alexander Graham Bell
- FREE Printables and Resources About Alexander Graham Bell
- Who Invented the Telephone? FREE Coloring Page | Raising Our Kids
- Alexander Graham Bell for Kids – Who Invented the Phone? | Clarendon Learning
- Reading Street Word Cards FREEBIE “Alexander Graham Bell: A Great Inventor” | Look Who’s in First Grade
- Alexander Graham Bell Grades 6 – 8 FREE Printable | Carson Dellosa Education
- FREEBIE!!!! Alexander Graham Bell Social Studies Unit | Pam Blalock Parmley
- Biography of Alexander Graham Bell for Children: Famous Inventors for Kids (Video) | FreeSchool
- FREE Graham Bell Fold&Learn | Lita Lita
Telephone STEM/STEAM Projects
- DIY String Telephone STEAM Activity for Kids | Raising Lifelong Learners
- DIY Plastic Cup Phones | Play Create Explore
- Make a Paper Cup Phone | There’s Just One Mommy
- Build a String Telephone FREE Download | Animal Jam Academy
- Telephone Prototype – STEAM Activities for Kids VIDEO | Gigglezz Preschool
- Tin Can & String Telephone: A Simple STEM Experiment | STLMotherhood
- DIY Smart Phone Projector | The STEM Laboratory
- Simple Science – Recycled DIY Can Telephones | Lemon Lime Adventures
- DIY Simple STEM with Plastic Cups | Momgineer
- Tin Can Telephone: Sound Wave Science Experiment | Life Over C’s
The success of the telegraph ended, in most part, with the introduction of the telephone.
Isn’t it how inventions work? With the creativity and innovation of humans, we think of new ideas and advancements to the old which build on the past and improve the future.
