Technology and Humans

Question How has the use of technology expanded the capacity of people to modify and adapt to their environment?

Answer A. Agriculture B. Energy Usage C. Transportation D. Automobiles E. Airplanes

Agriculture Technology has had the biggest impact on people’s ability to produce food. Humans can grow more food and harvest it faster allowing the population to grow.

Agriculture Technology has helped agriculture in several ways: People now have tractors and machines that can help them farm. When people use machines to farm it is called mechanized farming. People can make chemical fertilizers that help plants grow faster and bigger. People use pesticides to kill bugs that destroy plants.

Compare Ploughing What would you rather do? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcrEMbCtxfY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CwqtjLEyK0

Fertilizing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvicpTa79A&feature=related

Compare Harvesting What would you rather do? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwELkLeUYJ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVSxyLJZSZc&feature=related

Energy Usage Technology has allowed humans to use different types of energy such as solar power, wind power, geothermal power, energy from fossil fuels, and energy from nuclear fission.

Energy Usage Most of the power in the world is produced by fossil fuels; coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning fossil fuels causes pollution and there is a limited amount of oil and coal that is available. Nuclear power is another option but many people don’t think nuclear power is safe and it produces radioactive waste.

Notice how the construction of nuclear plants leveled off in the mid 1980s.

A nuclear power plant.

Transportation Technology has radically changed how humans get from one place to another place. Besides the invention of the internal combustion engine there are also better roads and a network of railroads that make it easier and faster to transport humans and goods.

A freeway in Brazil

A freeway in Australia

Automobiles Cars have had an impact on just about all aspects of life in the modern world. Cars allowed people to live farther from their work, therefore suburbs grew up around cities. Cars need roads and parking lots so the advent of the car led to massive road construction projects and more parking lots all over the world.

The automobile has led to this, lucky us!

Was this possible 100 years ago? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A-unBigvoY

Airplanes Airplanes make it easier and faster to travel, but they have also changed the world because people must build airports which in turn create noise and other environmental concerns.