How has the wheel
affected society??
History of the wheel
•The earliest known use of the wheel was
thought to be around 3500BC as a potters
wheel in Mesopotamia which is part of
modern day Iraq.
•The wheel was probably first used for
transport in Mesopotamian chariots.
Chariot
•The chariot is one of the earliest forms of transport that
involves the wheel. They were being made in Mesopotamia as
early as 3000 BC.
• The word chariot comes from the Latin word carrus which
was originally from the Gaul.
• The chariot influenced society in many ways like making
warfare easier and providing entertainment in the form of
chariot races and games.
• Chariots were in many battles and influenced them a lot
and they even feature in the bible.
• Chariots are in many carvings in many countries like Egypt,
India, Rome and Greece.
Train
•The wheel has allowed trains to be possible because they
have wheels affixed to the bottom that run on tracks.
•A train is used to transport goods and people quickly over
large distances.
•In 1804 Richard Trevithick built the first steam powered
train.
•Trains have sped up the way that we do things, instead of
having to walk for hours you just jump on the nearest train
and you are there in a much shorter time.
• Trains ruled the transport industry until the invention of
the Automobile.
Spanish train
Japanese bullet train
Bicycle
•In the 1860s Frenchman Pierre Michaux along with Pierre
Lallement made the first pedal powered Bicycle.
•The Bicycle has had an effect on society because it is a mode
of transport that is faster than walking but still uses human
power.
•It is a fairly fast mode of transport and quite useful for
going short distances. It is also a form of entertainment and
people sometimes bike just for fun.
Automobile
•The Automobile or motor car has effected society in a huge
way.
•The car is a carriage of sorts with wheels affixed to an axle,
these wheels are turned on the axle by an energy source like
the internal combustion engine or steam power moving the
car along a surface.
• The car has allowed humans to travel large distances in a
relatively short amount of time. This has changed the way we
live and has allowed us to do things a lot faster, instead of
having to walk for an hour to get to school you can just jump
in your car and you are there in twenty minutes.
•Because of the Automobile we can travel further and faster
almost anywhere on land.
Aircraft
•Wheels are used to safely land the aircraft because most
aircraft can’t take off or land vertically.
• The air craft needs a long stretch of tarmac before the
plane reaches the correct speed for lift to take place.
Without wheels the Aircraft would not be able to reach the
correct speed for lift.
• Aircraft wheels have effected society because now we can
travel over large distances very fast using the jet engine (see
Jawon’s presentation).
•Air travel is very fast however things can go very wrong, see
the chart on the next slide for the percentage of fatalities
caused by flight and where in the flight they occur.
This is a chart showing where the most
accidents and fatalities occur on a flight.
Isn't it reassuring………
Roller coaster
•The first roller coaster was finished on the 20th of January
1885 by LaMarcus Adna Thompson.
•Roller coasters are purely for amusement and not actually
for transport.
•Roller coasters have changed our society by adding another
form of entertainment and giving those thrill seeking people
what they want.
Conclusion
•Overall the wheel has effected society hugely. The wheel
has made travel a lot faster and made us a lot lazier because
now instead of walking to school we all get driven or catch
the bus.
• We also have more entertainment like the roller coaster
and more things to do. Everything happens faster and we get
lazier and lazier.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/wheel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_coaster
Reflection
What we did well:
We did the power point presentation well because it
looks good and is informative
What we didn’t do well:
We didn’t prepare for the presentation very well because
we are still reading off sheets of paper.
What did we learn about research?
The research is easy if you get stuck in and do it but it is
difficult if you muck around for ages.
What advice would we give someone else
doing the same thing?
Do it well the first time so that you don’t have to keep
going back to it.