What is technology?

Time: 20-30 minutes

Discussion: what is a technology?

  • solicit answers and ideas

Activity: draw a picture of a technology that you have used

(after a few minutes:)

  • share pictures
    • hold up pictures
    • who sees a technology they’ve used?
    • how do we think that technology got invented?
      • did it get invented one day by one person, or by a bunch of people?
      • did it get invented just all of a sudden or did it take a long time and a lot of work?
      • did it change over time?
  • do new technologies always work right?
    • they “malfunction”
    • when the technology you drew malfunctions, what might happen?

Discussion: what is not a technology?

  • are these technologies?:
    • phones
    • cars
    • light bulbs
    • dogs
    • stars
    • trees
    • pencils
    • shoes
    • books
    • secret codes
    • letters
    • languages
    • cooking recipes
    • water
    • chocolate
  • technologies are:
    • things people invented, because they needed them
    • a technology doesn’t need to be related to electricity and screens, it can be anything we invent that we want to be useful
  • …but not everything we make is a technology:
    • a song is not a technology, but a way to record a song is a technology
    • art is not a technology, but paintbrushes and paints are
    • a cookie is not a technology, but a recipe for cookies is

Discusson: the purpose of technologies

  • what is the purpose of the technologies listed above, or technologies that students named?
  • for example:
  • shoes are a technology to keep our feet protected and warm
  • language is a technology so that we can tell each other things, make plans together, help each other, warn each other of danger
  • recipes are a technology that let us build up what we know about cooking good food

Activity: draw a technology that doesn’t exist yet

  • draw something you might like to see get invented in the future (after a few minutes:)
  • share pictures
  • hold up pictures
  • who sees a technology they would like to try?
  • what would happen if they malfunction?

Conclusion: “Great malfunction!”

Explain to students that:

  • this is going to be a class about technology
  • that means we’re using new inventions that didn’t exist a few years ago

Ask:

  • do people expect everything is going to go exactly how we planned? (No!)

Explain:

  • if you do something and it doesn’t quite work right, don’t be sad!
  • the things we make with new technology don’t work perfectly because we’re trying new things
  • malfunctions can be:
  • frustrating, but also…
  • surprising
  • interesting
  • even funny!
  • we can learn from every malfunction.
  • some of the best inventions ever have come because something didn’t work right

Motto:

  • “Great malfunction! What can we learn from it?”