Worksheets

Cipher Families Worksheet: Substitution and Transposition

Compare the changes each method makes and explain which cipher family it belongs to.

Questions

Identify the transformation family

Compare the named method, its input, and its result. Choose Substitution, Transposition, Grid, or Code, then explain the change you can see.

Seed cs-classroom-01 · Generator 1/1.0.0

Name: ____________________ Date: ________________

Family choices: Substitution · Transposition · Grid · Code

Question 1

Caesar changes WALK PAST THE OAK to the text below. Name its family.

ZDON SDVW WKH RDNAnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

Question 2

Rail Fence changes FOLDTHECORNERBACK to the text below. Name its family.

FTORKODHCREBCLENAAnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

Question 3

Polybius Square changes LOOKUNDERTHEBENCH to the text below. Name its family.

31 34 34 25 45 33 14 15 42 44 23 15 12 15 33 13 23AnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

Question 4

Atbash changes FIND THREE ROUND STONES to the text below. Name its family.

URMW GSIVV ILFMW HGLMVHAnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

Question 5

A1Z26 changes FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL to the text below. Name its family.

6-15-12-12-15-23 / 20-8-5 / 16-1-16-5-18 / 20-18-1-9-12AnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

Question 6

Columnar Transposition changes LOOKBEHINDTHECLOCK to the text below. Name its family.

OBITCCLKHDEOOENHLKAnswerWere letters replaced, moved, found in a square, or written as numbers or signals?

CipherSteps · https://ciphersteps.online · support@ciphersteps.online

What changes when a message is encoded: the letters, their order, or the symbols used to write them? These questions name the method and show the input so you can compare the two sides. You do not need to guess an unknown cipher from a short clue.

Look at the operation, not just the symbols

Family	Question to ask	Supported examples
Substitution	Are letters replaced by letters according to a rule?	Caesar, Atbash, Vigenère
Transposition	Are the prepared letters moved to new positions?	Rail Fence, Columnar, Scytale
Coordinates or representation	Are letters written as numbers, A/B groups, or signals?	Polybius, A1Z26, Morse

Classify a Caesar shift

InputMAP

SettingsCaesar; shift 3; classify the operation

Expected resultPDS

Try this method

With Caesar shift 3, MAP becomes PDS. Each letter is replaced while its place in the message stays the same. That makes this a substitution; the method tells us more than the appearance of PDS on its own.

What to do

Read the method name and prepared input.
Compare character identities, order, and token format.
Choose the family that matches the documented operation.
Write one sentence of evidence, then verify a small step.

Compare two transformations

Named method	Input	Output	Answer
Scytale, 2 columns	ABCD	ACBD	Transposition: same letters, different positions
A1Z26	MAP	13-1-16	Number representation: each token names an alphabet position

Give learners time to compare their explanations before showing the key. A clear account of what changed is useful even when they use a different term, as long as it fits the method and its preparation rules.

Print a comparison activity

Choose the seed and number of questions for your comparison set. Keep those settings, the worksheet type, and the generator version if you want to make the same set again. Both A4 and Letter are available. Include the separate answers for discussion, or omit them for independent work.

Substitution vs. transposition The difference between ciphers and codes Rail Fence cipher tool A1Z26 letter-to-number tool