Weird Richard News Update

Sent Date

02-02-02

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TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY UPDATE

A weekly newsletter for families and educators committed to
building brighter futures for kids in a technology-rich society.
THIS WEEK: Part 5 of our technological literacy series as we
delve into TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES!!

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TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY THIS WEEK

This is the fifth week addressing the significant technologies
identified by the ITEA in their "Technology for All Americans"
project. This week, we'll look at Standard #18-- Students will
develop an understanding of and be able to select and use
transportation technologies.

TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES - AN OVERVIEW

The complex web of technologies that make up our transportation
networks are remarkable feats of inter-related engineering that
all work together to collectively deliver us from our homes to
work to school and back again. Consider the planes, trains,
automobiles, boats, bikes, scooters, ski lifts, and other
machines and devices that you see daily moving people and cargo
from point to another. Now consider the extraordinary
infrastructure of technology that exists that enables all of
these remarkable machines to operate effectively and safely.
Finally, consider the damage that can and does occur because of
poor design or lack of planning related to transportation.

Just as in our other treatments of the technologies that pervade
our society, the first step towards creating a technologically
literate student is elevating awareness.

TRY THIS AT HOME OR IN YOUR CLASS!

Try this simple exercise to get the ball rolling! Have your
students brainstorm all of the transportation systems they
can possibly imagine. Record each of these in a long list
that everyone can clearly see. Now, make a second column next
to this list that you will identify what the transportation
devices move -- people, food, textiles, etc. Now, brainstorm
a third column (this is a big one) that lists all of the
supporting and related technologies that are required to make
this transportation system function. For example, our public
roads system requires tremendous civil engineering efforts as
well as the production of cars for the end user. There is quite
a spectrum of technology utilized just to get us from home to
work!

Now that you have your list on the board, ask your class to pick
one technology, or possibly a natural resource that a technology
depends on, and make it go away from your list. Now, go through
and circle all of the transportation systems that suddenly are
inoperable. Using this type of activity or other brainstorming
activity, you can quickly illustrate the inter-connected nature
of our worldwide transportation networks. This is also a great
way to elevate awareness in your students of the complex nature
of transportation technologies.

NEXT WEEK: MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES!!

We hope that this introduction to Transportation Technologies
has been useful. Try to find a moment to integrate some of this
information into your daily routine with your students or family
this week. Together, we can build a brighter future for
students around the world by preparing them to use technology as
naturally as they use a pencil and paper!

Until next week!

Technological Literacy Update

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