Transcript Exploring Technology

Exploring Technology
Mr. Ransford
What is Technology
 Technology is the way human beings solve
problems to meet their wants and needs.
 It is the way people use the resources around
them creatively to do the things they want to
do and create the things they want to create.
What is Technology
 Is a pencil a type of technology?
 How many other examples of everyday
technology can you think of?
A History of Technology
 People had to find ways of making tools to
meet survival needs even in the Stone Age.
 In the Bronze Age, people learned how to
make bronze out of copper and tin. This
improved their tools.
 In the Iron Age, people learned how to mine
and use iron, which is harder than bronze.
This improved their tools even more.
A History of Technology
 The technologies people create change their
lives.
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For example:
Moveable Type
Cars
TV
Telephone
Computer
Cell Phones
Artificial Limbs
A History of Technology
 How have these changed your life?
Technology
 It has become easier for humans to share
their knowledge with one another. This is due
to the great advances in communication, the
process of sending and receiving messages.
 We live in a time that is full of many kinds of
technologies that are changing rapidly each
an every day.
 How can technology be compared to having a
“snowball effect” on our lives?
Technology
 This class will address four separate
introductory areas of technology.
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Communication
Manufacturing
Transportation
Construction
 We will learn problem solving skills through
these four areas.
Communication Technology
 Communication is the process of sending and
receiving messages.
 Communication Technology includes all the
ways people have developed to send and
receive messages.
 This technology can be used to communicate
with machines and to help machines
communicate with each other.
Manufacturing Technology
 Manufacturing Technology includes all the
technologies people use to make the things
they want and need.
 It includes the equipment and machines used
to change the raw materials into finished
products.
 It also includes the technologies needed to
design the product, to ensure its quality, and
to sell it.
Transportation Technology
 Transportation is the business of carrying
people and things from one place to another.
 Transportation Technology includes all the
means we use to help us move through the
air, in space, in water, or over land.
Construction Technology
 Construction is the process of building
structures.
 Construction Technology is all the technology
used in designing and building structures.
 It can range from something as simple as a
hammer used to drive in nails to something
as complex as a bulldozer for leveling earth
or a crane for lifting heavy objects to build a
tall structure.
Technology
 All of the previous systems of technology have one
particular piece in common. They all have inputs,
processes, outputs, and feedback which is called the
Universal Systems Model.
Universal Systems Model
Input
Process
Feedback
Output
The Effects of Technology
 How has technology affected our
environment?
 Our environment includes all the conditions
that surround a person, animal, or plant and
affect development and growth.
The Effects of Technology
 Sometimes the technologies we develop and
use create problems in our environment.
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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s)
Disposable goods and food packaging
Cleaning agents
Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Inorganic Pesticides
Exploring Technology
 As you can see, technology is a mixed
blessing.
 By understanding how technology works and
studying the effects it has, we can make good
decisions about how to use technology to
make our world a better place in which to live.