Foundations of Technology
History of Technology
Teacher Resource – Unit 1 Lesson 1
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Foundations of Technology
The BIG Idea
Big Idea:
People are better able to understand the world
around them when they explore how people of
all times and places have used their unique
skills to develop inventions and innovations.
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Foundations of Technology
Technological
Development
Technology is evolutionary and is often
the result of a series of refinements to an
idea or basic invention.
The evolution of civilization has been
directly attributed to the development of
tools and materials.
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Foundations of Technology
Technological
Development
The impact of technological development
can be divided into four categories:
Social – the impact on people
Political – the impact on policy and laws
Cultural – the impact on human achievement
Economic – the impact on the economy
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Foundations of Technology
The History of Technology
Early in the history of technology, the
development of tools and materials was
based on technological know-how.
Today, technological development is based
on scientific knowledge and engineering
design.
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Foundations of Technology
The History of Technology
The History of Technology can be divided
into nine distinct periods of time:
Paleolithic Age
The Middle Ages
Mesolithic Age
The Renaissance
Neolithic Age
Industrial Age
Bronze Age
The Information
Age
Iron Age
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Foundations of Technology
The Paleolithic Age
The Old Stone Age or in Greek (palaios – “old”)
and (lithos – “stone”)
Time Period: 500,000 BC – 10,000 BC
Impacts on history:
Improved diet and enhanced
security enabled early humans
to increase the population.
Artifacts:
Stone axes, bone needles, hearth sites
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Foundations of Technology
The Mesolithic Age
The Middle Stone Age or in Greek (mesos –
“middle”) and (lithos – “stone”)
Time Period: 10,000 BC – 4,000 BC
Impacts on history:
The gradual domestication of animals
and agriculture led to settled
communities.
Artifacts:
Leatherwork, fishing tackle, stone circles
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Foundations of Technology
The Neolithic Age
The New Stone Age or in Greek (néos – “new”)
and (líthos – “stone”)
Time Period: 4,000 BC – 2,300 BC
Impacts on history:
Dependable year-round food supply
enables division of labor and
specialization that spurs invention.
Artifacts:
Spinning/weaving tools, stone plows, sickles
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Foundations of Technology
The Neolithic Age
Examples of Engineering Design during the
Neolithic Age:
Mesopotamian engineers used clay
tablets to document irrigation systems.
Babylonian engineers used
mathematical concepts such as
algebra for land excavation
calculations.
Egyptian engineers built
the pyramids.
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STEMCenter for Teaching and Learning™
Foundations of Technology
The Bronze Age
The architectural period that included
combining copper and tin to produce bronze
Time Period: 2,300 BC – 700 BC
Impacts on history:
The use of bronze replaced stone tools
and allowed humans to greatly alter
their environment.
Artifacts:
Bronze jewelry, tools/weapons
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Foundations of Technology
The Iron Age
The architectural period marked by
the prevalent use of iron or steel
Time Period: 700 BC – 450 AD
Impacts on history:
Military dominance for cultures that
could produce iron weapons.
The iron-blade plow allowed humans to increase food
production.
Artifacts:
Iron farming equipment/weapons, manuscripts
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Foundations of Technology
The Iron Age
Examples of Engineering Design during the Iron
Age:
Greek engineers created the
crossbow and catapult to
conquer territories.
Roman engineers created
aqueduct systems, sanitary
systems, and an extensive
road system.
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Foundations of Technology
The Middle Ages
The architectural period after the Roman
Empire. Divided into Early Middle Ages, High
Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages.
Time Period: 450 AD – 1,400 AD
Impacts on history:
Early Middle Ages – increased
pressure from invasion lead to
depopulation and deurbanization.
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Foundations of Technology
The Middle Ages
Impacts on history:
High Middle Ages – the beginning of feudalism,
population increase, and agricultural innovation
Late Middle Ages – famine, plague and war,
often marked by the Black Death,
which killed approximately one-third
of the population
Artifacts:
Improved harness for horses, cast iron,
cannons, mechanical clocks, compass
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Foundations of Technology
The Middle Ages
Examples of Engineering Design during the
Middle Ages:
Technology, like the windmill,
produced mechanical labor.
The printing press was used
to share information and
knowledge.
The word “engineer” began to
appear as “ingeniare” or to
design or devise.
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Foundations of Technology
The Renaissance /
Enlightenment
The architectural period marked by the revival
of classical influence and the sharing of ideas,
or in Italian (Rinascimento – “to be reborn”)
Time Period: 1,400 AD – 1,750 AD
Impacts on history:
Instrumentation enabled scientists to
observe and quantify natural phenomena.
Artifacts:
Telescope, microscope, thermometer
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Foundations of Technology
The Renaissance /
Enlightenment
Examples of Engineering Design during the
Renaissance:
Leonardo da Vinci was born in
Italy in 1452 and began his career
as an artist, painting and sculpting.
He also designed weapons, buildings,
and machinery.
To learn more, please visit “Exploring
Leonardo” at the Museum of Science:
http://legacy.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/
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Foundations of Technology
The Renaissance /
Enlightenment
Examples of Engineering Design during the
Renaissance:
Galileo Galilei was born in 1564
and was known as a physicist,
astronomer, and philosopher. He
is best known for his improvements
to the telescope and astronomical
observations.
To learn more, please visit “Galileo’s
Place in Science” at NOVA PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/science.html
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Foundations of Technology
The Industrial Age
The architectural period marked by the first use
of complex machinery, factories, and
urbanization.
Time Period: 1,750 AD – 1,950 AD
Impacts on history:
The industrial revolution gave
rise to urban centers, requiring
vast municipal services, creating
a specialized and interdependent
economic life.
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Foundations of Technology
The Industrial Age
Impacts on history:
Economic expansion created the
rise of professionals, population
expansion, and improved standard
of living.
Artifacts:
Electricity, automobile, airplane,
radio, television, telephone, rocket
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Foundations of Technology
The Industrial Age
Examples of Engineering Design during the
Industrial Age:
James Watt refines the steam
engine for practical use.
Alessandro Volta discovers the
principles for a battery.
Pieter van Musschenbroek creates
the forerunner of the capacitor.
Henry Ford creates the concept
of the modern assembly line.
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Foundations of Technology
The Information Age
The architectural period marked by information
sharing, gathering, manipulation, and retrieval.
Time Period: 1950 AD - Present
Impacts on history:
As information becomes more
widely available, increasing numbers
of people will be empowered.
Artifacts:
Integrated circuit, computer, nuclear power,
digital camera
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STEMCenter for Teaching and Learning™
Foundations of Technology