Mr. Szyikowski's Top 10 Technological events / inventions.
1793
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Cotton Gin, Eli Whitney
The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793. This simple machine removed seeds from cotton at a speed that amazed the people of that time. His invention sparked other inventions and innovations that contribute industrial revolution. Eli never really profited from this invention due people stealing his idea and patent issues. However he did profit from the manufacturing of interchangeable parts of the Musket Rifle. |
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1876
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Telephone, Alexander Graham Bell
The Telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The first understandable words to electronically cross a wire were "Mr. Watson come here, I want you". They were said by Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Mr. Watson. It didn't take long for the telephone to evolve from the first primitive experiment and into a usable device. |
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1878
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Incandescent Light Bulb, Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Alva Edison also known as the "Wizard of Menlo Park" invented the light bulb in 1878. He is also responsible for over 1,000 patents like power generation systems, motion pictures, and the phonograph (record player). He is possibly the most important ever as his invention of the light bulb lead to the creation of the electrical grid which now powers millions of electrical items. |
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1903
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Controlled Flight of an Airplane, Orville & Wilbur Wright
The Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur) are responsible for the first controlled flight. The key word being controlled. Others had invented unmanned flight prior to this but none had the ability to have control over the aircraft. So credit to the airplane goes to the Wright Brothers who flew their airplane at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Their invention revolutionized the world in many ways like the speed of mail, medical needs, and warfare. The Wright Brothers made the world a much smaller place. |
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1909
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Model T and Assembly Line, Henry Ford
Henry Ford created not only the Model T which was one of the most successful vehicles ever made, but he also perfected the assembly line. It is hard to say which one of the inventions he created had a bigger impact on technology. Many would say the Model T because it made traveling so much faster and affordable. Others would say it was the assembly line because it revolutionized manufacturing by having the work move down the line by a mechanical drive. |
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1927
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Television, Philo Farnsworth
Philo Farnsworth had envisioned the concept of how a TV would work long before he actually created it. It is obvious that the TV had a significant impact on the world. Almost every household in the US has at least one TV if not more. Unfortunately for Farnsworth he never made what he deserved from the invention of the TV as he was undermined by the electronic company RCA. |
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1957
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Sputnik, Soviet Union
Sputnik was launched by the USSR (Union of Soviet Republics) in 1957 during the cold war. Some Americans were excited to see such technology excited by many feared that the USSR were beating the U.S. in the Cold War. This sparked an educational movement lead by the US government to make it's schools better. Soon after the U.S. sets it's goals on landing on the moon. |
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1969
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Moon Landing, United States of America
On July 20th 1969 Neil Armstrong flight commander of Apollo 11 was the first human to step on the surface of the moon. This was an amazing event that most of the world watched on T.V. in amazement that the U.S. was able to accomplish such a task. It was also an indicator to the Russians (Enemy of the U.S. during the Cold War) that the U.S. Engineering was superior to theirs. |
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1986
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Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
When a nuclear power plant had a nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl, Ukraine, which was a state of the USSR was much was feared. The city of Pripyat was evacuated a little to late and many suffered from the effect of radiation poisoning. Radiation from that plant could be detected all the way around the world. Nuclear power was thought of as being a clean form of energy that could put a dent in the pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants. Unfortunately this explosion derailed many plans to build nuclear power plants as the public no longer accepts them into their communities. |
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2007
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iPhone, Apple / Steve Jobs
The Late Steve Jobs, CEO of electronics giant Apple debuted the iphone in 2007. This iPhone revolutionized the phone industry practically overnight. With these new phones people could not only talk and text but they could search the internet and play their digital music. The iphone combined the phone, internet,and the ipod into one touch screen device. Since then the smart phone industry has skyrocketed and these smart phone are becoming just as powerful as a computer. |
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Technological Eras
Students will learn about the three technological eras which are the Agricultural Era, Industrial Era and the Informational Era. They will also be taking a look at some of the job occupations that were popular during each of the eras. More information is found on the Industrial Eras page of my TechEd site.
There are three major eras when looking back at how Technology has impacted our society. In the time of early humans we were in the Agricultural Era, a time when most people worked as farmers and harvesters in order to survive. As time went on people started to work smarter instead of harder. They invented tools and machines to assist them with their work on the fields making them more efficient and more profitable. At this time two things started to happen. The first was the farmers wanted to purchase machines and equipment for their farms. Secondly once the farmer acquired this equipment they didn't need as many employees as the equipment was replacing the workers. As the need for tools and machines increased jobs started to shift from the Agricultural Era to the Industrial Era.
The Industrial era was time that people worked in factories producing steel, tools, machines, and many other goods for the economy. People also started to move into towns and cities to be closer to work. Remember traveling back then was more difficult then it is today. In comparison to the Agricultural Era the Industrial Era was rather short lived. This can be attributed to the fierce competition to create better products at cheaper prices to obtain sales. Owners and managers seeked ways to increase their profits, the same as the farmers did. Again people started to work smarter not harder. Owners and managers of industries saw an opportunity to reduce their workforce and increase their profits by coupling new inventions such as computers and machines together. Computerized machines had many benefits over human controlled machines, like no sick days, vacations, and computerized machines could work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Once again another Technological shift was underway. As the jobs in industry started to disappear because of computers replacing humans a need for workers in the computer field grew. This marks the beginning of the Informational Era.
The Informational Era is still going on today, jobs such as software engineers, computer technicians web designers, information specialist and other similar jobs make up a large portion of today's workforce. With the recent rise of smart phones and cloud-based computing the Informational Era is evolving at an exponential rate. Preparing for technical careers can be challenging as a portion of what learned while attending a technical school will be outdated by the time that individual actually gets to work force.
The Industrial era was time that people worked in factories producing steel, tools, machines, and many other goods for the economy. People also started to move into towns and cities to be closer to work. Remember traveling back then was more difficult then it is today. In comparison to the Agricultural Era the Industrial Era was rather short lived. This can be attributed to the fierce competition to create better products at cheaper prices to obtain sales. Owners and managers seeked ways to increase their profits, the same as the farmers did. Again people started to work smarter not harder. Owners and managers of industries saw an opportunity to reduce their workforce and increase their profits by coupling new inventions such as computers and machines together. Computerized machines had many benefits over human controlled machines, like no sick days, vacations, and computerized machines could work 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Once again another Technological shift was underway. As the jobs in industry started to disappear because of computers replacing humans a need for workers in the computer field grew. This marks the beginning of the Informational Era.
The Informational Era is still going on today, jobs such as software engineers, computer technicians web designers, information specialist and other similar jobs make up a large portion of today's workforce. With the recent rise of smart phones and cloud-based computing the Informational Era is evolving at an exponential rate. Preparing for technical careers can be challenging as a portion of what learned while attending a technical school will be outdated by the time that individual actually gets to work force.
Review
Make a chart that has three columns and has 11 rows. In the top row write Year in the first space, What in the second space, and who in the third space. This chart should take up a full sheet of paper. Fill in the chart using the information above.
Review questions for Inventions and Events
1. Which of the above was considered a threat to the United States?
2. Who said the words "Mr. Watson come here, I want you"?
3. Who revolutionized the phone?
4. What invention kick started the industrial revolution?
5. What year did the U.S. land on the moon?
6. What invention was thought up while plowing fields?
7. Manufacturing was sped up with Henry Fords redesign of the _________________.
8. What was one of the worst nuclear disasters called?
9.What year did Thomas Elva Edison invent the light bulb?
10. Who made the world a much smaller place?
Review Questions for Technological Eras
1. What is the correct order of the three technological eras?
2. Has Technology sped up or slowed down over time?
3. Are all the above occupations still around today?
4. What era are we in today?
5. What drove the shifts from one era to the next?
Make a chart that has three columns and has 11 rows. In the top row write Year in the first space, What in the second space, and who in the third space. This chart should take up a full sheet of paper. Fill in the chart using the information above.
Review questions for Inventions and Events
1. Which of the above was considered a threat to the United States?
2. Who said the words "Mr. Watson come here, I want you"?
3. Who revolutionized the phone?
4. What invention kick started the industrial revolution?
5. What year did the U.S. land on the moon?
6. What invention was thought up while plowing fields?
7. Manufacturing was sped up with Henry Fords redesign of the _________________.
8. What was one of the worst nuclear disasters called?
9.What year did Thomas Elva Edison invent the light bulb?
10. Who made the world a much smaller place?
Review Questions for Technological Eras
1. What is the correct order of the three technological eras?
2. Has Technology sped up or slowed down over time?
3. Are all the above occupations still around today?
4. What era are we in today?
5. What drove the shifts from one era to the next?
Below is an example of how your History Page should look
Major Technological inventions and Events |
(2 Points)
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Year
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Information
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Video
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(2 Points)
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Year (1 point)
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Information (4 points)
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Embedded video ( 2 points)
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(You must do the above for all 10 inventions / events, insert a divider in between each item)
Below you must write a description on the three technological eras. Please set this up in 3 columns in chronological order.
Below you must write a description on the three technological eras. Please set this up in 3 columns in chronological order.
Technological Eras |
(1 Point)
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Insert the era and years (1 Point)
Insert description, 2-5 sentences (4 points)
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Insert the era and years (1 Point)
Insert description, 2-5 sentences (4 Points)
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Insert the era and years (1 Point)
Insert description, 2-5 sentences (4 Points)
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The remaining 10 points are earned by the overall look of your page. This includes the layout, spacing, text sizes, color schemes, etc.