Download Student Activity Sheet(s) for printout in PDF Format
Overview
Students assemble a timeline to understand how communications technology
has evolved, and relate the invention of the Internet to earlier inventions.
Objectives
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Assemble a timeline of communications inventions |
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Relate the development of the Internet to other great moments in
communications history |
ISTE® National Technology Standards
Site Preview
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No Internet site is used in this lesson. |
Online Resources
Materials
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Activity sheets (3) |
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Scissors; adding machine tape (6 feet per student); paste |
Introduce
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Invite students to consider what makes the world seems smaller than
it did one hundred years ago. Ask: How
do new ways of communicating make the world seem smaller? Guide
students to consider the increased speeds at which goods and people
travel around the world and how much easier and faster it is to send
and receive messages and information. |
Teach 1
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Distribute the activity sheets. |
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With students, read and discuss each "great moment." Make sure
they understand which BC date is the earliest and that all dates not
followed by an abbreviation are AD. |
Teach 2
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Distribute the remaining materials and tell students they will
construct a timeline. |
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Have students cut apart the "great moments" boxes and put them in
chronological order. Next, have them sketch their timelines on the
adding machine tape, showing where each event will go. Suggest they
use zigzag lines to represent long periods of time without events. |
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Have students paste the "great moments" on their timelines. |
Teach 3
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Have students examine their timelines and describe any relationships
between the communications inventions. Help them consider commonalities
such as the printed word, electricity, and sound, and such issues
as distance, time, and dependence on other developments and inventions. |
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Invite them to hypothesize which inventions had to happen in order
for the Internet to exist. For example, the Internet uses transatlantic
cables, telephone lines, computer programs, television (video) images,
satellites, personal computers, and hypertext (information management
through links). |
Close
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Ask: Which ways of communicating
were invented a very long time ago? Which are the most recent? |
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Ask: Which prior invention
was most important to the invention of the Internet? Students
should support their answers. |
Extend
The following activity can be added for students who completed this lesson
in a previous grade.
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Have students interview someone who grew up before the invention
of the Internet. Then ask them to list five major changes that the
Internet has brought about in daily life. |
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Great Moments in Communications