A Brief History of Technology

1. A Brief History of Technology Foundations of Technology (A)

2. ARE YOU PREPAREDFOR CLASS? • You will need your • Folder • Composition Book • Pencil or Pen

3. OBJECTIVES • Assess prior knowledge and possible misconceptions related to the periods of human history associated with the evolution of technology • Understand how technological advances may have impacted the way people lived, worked, or produced things • Relate the use of the technological artifacts to a “turning point” in history • Research and report on a significant invention

4. The Big Idea Knowledge of the history of technology helps people understand the world around them by seeing how people of all times and places have increased their capability by using their unique skills to innovate, improvise and invent.

5. WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY? • Technology is the application of knowledge, tools and skills to solve problems and extend human capabilities • Human innovation in action • Generation of knowledge and processes to develop systems that solve problems and extend human capabilities

6. How has Technology Changed Our Lives? How did the following items influence the lives of the people that first used it?

7. How has Technology Changed Our Lives?

8. How has Technology Changed Our Lives?

9. How has Technology Changed Our Lives?

10. Have These Technologies Changed Everyone’s Life?

11. Exploration • The plow • Irrigation systems • Cannons • Printing press • Steam engine • Radar • Computer • Jet Engine • Laser • Locomotive • Pulley • Other? • In small groups (teacher assigned): • Brainstorm how a technological advancement influenced history

12. Exploration • Think and answer the following… • What did people do before the advancement? • Why is the advancement important? • How did it change history? • What were the benefits to people? • Did the advancement create any problems?

13. What is History? A chronological record of significant events often including an explanation of their causes HISTORY LESSON…

14. PALEOLITHIC AGE

15. PALEOLITHIC AGE • 500,000 BC – 10,000 BC • Emergence of a complex set of behaviors and tool use, believed by many archaeologists to be connected to the development of modern language • Earliest known stone tools • Axes, knives, scrapers, cleavers • Bone needles • Impact of technology • Improved health • Enhanced security • Enabled humans to increase population

16. MESOLITHIC AGE

17. MESOLITHIC AGE • 10,000 BC – 4000 BC • Development of composite tools • Leatherwork, basketry, fishing tackle • Domestication of animals • Impacts of Technology • Farming, domestication of animals, beginning of settled communities

18. NEOLITHIC AGE

19. NEOLITHIC AGE • 4000 BC – 2300 BC • Development of agriculture, year round settlements • Pottery, polished stone tools, spinning and weaving tools, wooden and stone plows, sickles • Impacts of Technology – • Dependable year round food, division of labor that spurs invention and innovation

20. BRONZE AGE

21. BRONZE AGE • 2300 BC – 700 BC • Earliest civilizations - the development of metallurgy, mainly the combining of copper and tin to make bronze • Bronze jewelry, tools, and weapons • Impact of Technology • Stone tools were gradually replaced by metal ones. Enabled humans to alter their environment at a greater rate

22. IRON AGE

23. IRON AGE • 700 BC – 450 AD • The use of iron as the main metal. • Iron dagger, iron chisels, small figurines, ornamental jewelry, swords, axes, spearheads • Impact of technology • Military dominance for uses of iron weapons and the use of iron bladed plows enabled humans to cultivate heavier soils and increase food production

24. MIDDLE AGES

25. MIDDLE AGES • 450 –1400 AD • The period of European history between fall of Rome and the Renaissance • Wheeled plow, improved harness for horses, horseshoes, stirrups, waterwheels, crank, windmill, cast iron, cannons, mechanical clock, compass, ocean-going ships • Impact of technology • The rise and decline of serfdom and feudalism, the rise of the money economy and capitalism, the expansion and contraction of economic activity, and the beginnings of urbanization and industrialization

26. RENAISSANCE

27. RENAISSANCE • 1400-1750 AD • The transitional movement in Europe between the middle ages and modern times, marked by a humanistic revival of classical influence • Telescope, microscope, thermometer, clocks, barometer • Impact of technology • Instrumentation enabled early scientists to observe and quantify natural phenomena

28. INDUSTRIAL AGE

29. INDUSTRIAL AGE • 1750-1950 AD • The cultural stage characterized by the first use of complex machinery, factories, urbanization, and other economic and general social changes from strictly agricultural societies • Steam engine, electricity, automobile, airplane, radio, television, telephone, and rocket • Impact of technology • The Industrial Revolution gave rise to urban centers requiring vast municipal services, created a specialized and interdependent economic life, and provided the economic base for the rise of the professions, population expansion, and improvement in living standards

30. INFORMATION AGE

31. INFORMATION AGE • 1950 AD–Present • Starting in the 1950s and continuing today in which the gathering, manipulation, classification, storage, and retrieval of information is central to the workings of society • Transistor, integrated circuit, computer, communication satellite, digital photography, artificial heart, nuclear power plant, space shuttle • Impact of technology • As information becomes more widely available, increasing numbers of individuals and organizations will be in a better position to make decisions that “experts” now make, decentralizing decision making and empowering more people

32. THE NATURE OF WORK Examine the following graph. How has the nature of work changed over time?

33. THE NATURE OF WORK