PLTW Gateway Lesson A

What is Technology? Chart

Provide three examples of each category of technology listed below. List a positive and negative impact that the invention or innovation has had on
society.

Technology Examples Positives (Good) Impact Negative (Bad) Impact

Information Technology
Definition: the process of
gathering and storing data to
be used in various forms.
• Television, Internet, satellite, • Internet: Information is stored for • Internet: Harder to distinguish
GPS, cell phones easy access between reliable sources and
unreliable sources

Communication Technology
Definition: giving or
exchanging information.
• Magazines, DVDs, photography, • Digital Camera: Allows you to • Digital Camera: Make forgery and
video games edit and print only the pictures plagiarism easier
you like
•

Biotechnology • Genetic engineering, bionics • Health: Improves quality of life, • Health: Side effect of some
• vitamins, vaccines, and medicine medications(nausea)
Definition: transforms living
things into products or new
forms of life.

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Technology
Agricultural Technology
Definition: produces plants
and animals for food, fiber,
and fuel.
Medical Technology
Definition: creates tools to
treat disease and injury
Environmental Technology
Definition: creates tools to
minimize the effect of
technology on the
development of living things.
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Lesson A
Examples Positives (Good) Impact Negative (Bad) Impact
• Irrigation, food • Fertilizers: can make plants • Fertilizers: have found their way
• preservation, produce more food per acre into ground water. Pollutes
drinking water.
• Lasers, prostheses, ultrasound, • X rays: Makes it easier to • Xray: Too many x rays can cause
medications diagnose injuries. cancer
•
• Hybrid vehicles, conservation, • Recycling: improves water and air • Recycling: disposal of garbage is
waste management (recycling) quality more complicated and time
consuming
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Technology
Manufacturing Technology
Definition: changes natural or
synthetic materials into
usable products.
Construction Technology
Definition: builds structures
that support loads and protect
us from the environment.
Materials Technology
Definition: development of
materials with outstanding
combinations of mechanical,
chemical, and electrical
properties that make other
advances possible.
Transportation Technology
Definition: provides a way
for people, animals, products,
and materials to be moved
from one place to the next.
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Examples
• Clothing, vehicles, food
• House, bridge, roads
• Mosquito repellent clothing,
artificial skin grafts for burn
victims, advanced building
materials such as composite
decking
•
• Flight – Airplane, rocket, space
shuttle
• Land – Train, subway,
automobile, bicycle
• Water – Commercial, cruise ships
Positives (Good) Impact
• Manufacturing: New products
help make our lives easier and
increase leisure time.
• Construction: Provides shelter,
improves roads, creates
employment opportunities.
• New materials: able to use
recycled materials to help the
enviorment
• Traveling long distances faster
Lesson A
Negative (Bad) Impact
• Manufacturing: many industries
use materials that can harms the
environment,
• Noise and debris, traffic
problems, accidents and injuries.
• New materials: don’t know how
the materials will behave over
long periods of time.
• Accidents
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Technology
Energy and Power
Technology
Definitions: Energy is the
ability or capacity to do work.
Power is the rate at which
energy is transformed from
one form to another.
Nanotechnology
Definition: manipulating
materials on an atomic or
molecular level.
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Lesson A
Examples Positives (Good) Impact Negative (Bad) Impact
• Non-vehicle – Conveyor belts,
pipelines
•
• Chemical Energy  Gasoline • Without energy and power, most • Overuse of non renewable
• Mechanical Energy  Motion technologies would not exist or resources
• Thermal Energy  Steam work
• Electrical Energy  Electricity
• Radiant Energy  Light
• Electrical power – provides light
and operates motors
• Mechanical power – moves
automobiles, trains, and airplanes
• Fluid power – uses fluids to
produce motion
• Hydraulic – uses a liquid
• Pneumatic – uses a gas
•
• Sensors, Nanobot, molecular • Implanted sensors: continually • Impede privacy
manufacturing sense and adjust medical
treatment
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