Transportation By Michael Hays

Evolution of Transportation HOW HAS TRANSPORTATION EVOLVED? –By foot –By water –By railroad –By automobiles –By airplanes

Way back When It’s pretty safe to say that there weren’t always boats, trains, and cars. Walking, or simply travel by foot, is the most basic form of transportation. Yet everyone knows that travel by foot is one of the slowest ways of transportation. (Hence its evolution)

Nomadic People Nomads are people that do not have a set home; they simple travel from place to place. Most often, Nomads were: –Hunters and gatherers –Traders with city dwellers –Goat or Cattle herders

1 st Activity Write a short paper, around 1 page, answering this question: How would transportation change, if at all, with the introduction of farming and agriculture? Questions to ask yourself: –How long has farming been around? –What kinds of things did people eat before farming and agriculture?

Agriculture The introduction to farming made permanent settlements a must. Just think, if you plan on harvesting crops year after year, you must settle in one place. The origins of agriculture date all the way back to 8000 B.C. The civilization that used this practice was called Mesopotamia, one of the first known civilizations recorded in history. Around China, near 7500 B.C., there is evidence that people there started to grow rice.

Water Civilizations have always been build near or around water. Water provides so many things for people including: –Food –A way to bathe –Hydration

Cont’d It is with water where we see the evolution of transportation take its next step. Water provides must faster travel especially with rivers and currents, but people had to create floating vessels to utilize the current’s speed.

Activity 2 “Build a Canoe” It is 2000 B.C., you have no modern day tools and you need to build a canoe with whatever resources you can. How do you do it? –This paper should give a detailed explanation on how you plan to build your canoe. –Can you do it, people back then found a way.

Travel by foot and water dominated transportation. It wasn’t until the invention of the railroad that transportation took its next giant step. This was roughly in the 1600’s and humans have been around for 1-2 million years. Why so long?

Activity 3 Think about how much the railroad, automobile, and airplane industry has progressed from 1600 to present day. Can this rate of progression continue? –This is an informal activity. I just want to hear your opinions on this. Ask yourself: Where might we be in 2400? How can transportation take its next step in its evolution.

The Railroad

Railroads The creation of railroads provided a much needed, quicker route on land. But the evolution of the railroad itself took a lot of time. Think about it, what do you think pulled the trains in the beginning?

Steam Engine Animals, specifically horses, normally pulled the trains. It was the invention of the steam engine in 1698 that revolutionized the railroad industry. Yet it wasn’t until the early 1800’s that the first steam powered train was put into use, and it took this train nearly 2 hours to travel 9 miles.

Automobiles

The engine The automobile industry tried to use steam powered engines as well, but the traditional horse and buggy proved to be more efficient. It was the invention of the gasoline powered engines that drove the automobile industry

Little facts It was in 1889 that the milestone vehicle came to be. This gas powered engine traveled at a top speed of 10 m.p.h. It wasn’t until 1901 that any vehicle was produced in quantity.

Airplanes

The first flight The first successful, powered, piloted flight occurred on December 17 th 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina –Orville and Wilber Wright made the flight –The flight lasted for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet and the maximum altitude of the flight was 10 feet

Why did the Wright brothers pick Kitty Hawk, N.C. as their test site? What elements were at this location?

Activity 4 Ships, Railroads, Automobiles, and Airplanes speed transportation up greatly. All have their advantages and disadvantages. For this activity, name 1 advantage and disadvantage each of these have over the others.

Activity 5 What do you think is the greatest invention of all time? You must include why you picked your invention over other famous inventions. –This paper should must be 1-2 pages. You will receive a grading rubric for specific requirements.

Sites nment/nomads.htm nment/nomads.htm rs/blrailroad.htm rs/blrailroad.htm ons/automobile.htm ons/automobile.htm rs/bl_wright_brothers.htm rs/bl_wright_brothers.htm