Technology Past & Present

1. Technology Past & Present

2. Technology • Using knowledge to develop products and systems that satisfy needs, solve problems, and increase our capabilities.

3. Technological Eras (or Ages) • Agricultural Era • Stone Age • Bronze Age • Iron Age • Industrial Age • Information Age • Communication Age

4. Stone Age – Up to about 3500 B.C. • Humans traveled in small nomadic groups. • Tools used to help in tasks were made from stone. • Mastered the use of fire. • Ex. Stones used to grind corn.

5. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways people used stone to help in their daily tasks. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Stone Age.

6. Bronze Age – About 3500 to 1000 B.C. • Plants grown from seed. • Yarn spun and fabric woven. • Soft metals were hammered, heated and molded. • Irrigation systems were developed. • Carts with wheels appeared.

7. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways people used metals to help in their daily tasks. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Bronze Age.

8. Iron Age – 1000 to 500 B.C. • With better furnaces smelt iron was developed. • Iron-tipped plows • Building techniques changed • Boats became oceangoing vessels. • Road systems appeared.

9. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways the Iron Age improved life. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Iron Age.

10. Industrial Age – 1750 to early 1900’s • New machines and sources of power were developed. • Countries changed from rural to urban. • Textile industry was born. • New transportation and communication. • Labor Unions were born.

11. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways the the Industrial Age changed life. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Industrial Age.

12. Information Age – early 1900’s to early 1990’s • Plastics were developed • Computer developed in 1944. • Transistors invented in1947. • Manufacturing changed • Travel increased • Information access and exchange became quicker and easier

13. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways the Information Age changed life. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Information Age.

14. Communication Age • Instant, mobile communication • Handhelds • PDA’s, Blackberries • Cellphones replacing landlines • Text messaging • Videophones • Internet communication • Blogging • Instant messaging • Internet phones

15. Pairs / Share • On your think paper, write down ways the Communication Age changed life. • Share with your partner. • On your graphic organizer illustrate an example of the Communication Age.

16. Exponential Growth • Changes coming faster and faster • Ideas combined and change increases Ex. If you were given one penny on your birthday and the amount doubled every day by the third day you would have four cents.

17. Activity • With a partner figure out how much you would have at the end of one month if you were given one penny and it doubled every day. • Answer: Over $5 million or $5,368,709.12 to be exact.

18. Technology’s Rate of Change • Moore’s Law • The observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. • Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future. In subsequent years, the pace slowed down a bit, but data density has doubled approximately every 18 months.

19. Round Table • Discuss in round table the impact Moore’s Law has on us today. • Be ready to share.

20. Activities • Optional small group activity: Technology Then, Now and Future worksheet. • Using the Venn diagram handout, select one tool of the past and compare it to a tool of the present used for a similar task. Write a paragraph explaining how this technology has increased our capacity. • Ex: Hand sewing / Sewing Machine