unit 2: the engineering process; lesson 3: how does technology improve our lives

Unit 2 Lesson 3 How Does Technology Improve Our Lives?

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The Technology Zone


• Most of the things people use every day are technology.

• Examples of technology include pencils, bikes, light bulbs, clothes, cooking food

• Technology doesn’t have to be complex or require electricity. But, technology must meet a human need.

The Technology Zone


• The way people meet needs changes with time.

• In pioneer days, food was prepared in a fireplace, so heavy pans were needed. Today, people can use plastic dishes to cook in microwave ovens.

• The need to prepare food hasn’t changed, but the way people prepare food has.


Meeting People’s Needs


• Technology changes over time in response to people’s needs.

• In the 1800s, long-distance communication could take weeks or months. The need for reliable communication increased as people moved west.

• As needs increase, new technologies develop faster.


Meeting People’s Needs


• Through the 1800s, delivering a message cross-country went from taking 25 days via stagecoach, to one week via railroad, to minutes via telegraph.

• In 1915, cross-country telephone service began. Eighty years later, the first smart phone was developed.


Technology Risks and Benefits


• Technology can have positive and negative effects.

• Positive effects, or benefits, are ways that technology fills a need.

• Negative effects are risks. This might include constant changes to technology or technology’s negative impact on the environment.


Technology Risks and Benefits


• No matter what the technology, there are both risks and benefits.

• For example, cars allow personal freedom by letting you go almost anywhere and carry heavy items that you could not move on your own.

• However, cars use gasoline that is made from oil, a limited resource. They also cause air pollution and can be dangerous if not driven properly.


Living Technology


• Engineered devices are sometimes used on living things. This connects engineering and biology.

• Engineers who work with living things are called bioengineers.

• The practice of applying the engineering design process to living things is called bioengineering.


• Bioengineering can design tools that prevent pollution, engineer plants to grow faster, or design scanners to look inside the body.

• Bioengineering can benefit the environment, health, and nutrition.

• Any product used to benefit organisms or their environment is an example of biotechnology.



Living Technology

• Some bioengineers design devices, such as artificial legs, skin, and hearts, that replace human body parts.

• These artificial body parts do the same jobs as the human body parts they replace.



Living Technology