1. Izzy Ford & Lauren Larobis Spring 2012

2. Definition of Technology Technology is something that can help people by making work easier, help scientists with research, help doctors cure sick patients, and it can also entertain us.

3. Antikythera Mechanism The Antikythera Mechanism helped to track stars. This system helped sailors because they did not get lost as easily. Sailors tracked stars to tell what direction they were going in. Scientists might use it to track stars today without a telescope. The Antikythera Mechanism could have been an inspiration for the telescope.

4. Eyeglasses Eyeglasses help people with seeing disabilities. For example people who are cross-eyed, have double vision, or just see poorly can have normal or close to normal vision by wearing glasses. Eyeglasses have changed a lot since they were invented. Now in addition to regular glasses there are contact lenses, laser eye surgery, bifocals, trifocals, progressives and lenses for double vision and stigmatism. The first glasses looked like handcuffs as if they would cut your nose. You probably could only keep them on for short periods of time.

5. Thermometer The thermometer gives you the ability to check someone or something’s temperature. If thermometers were not invented, you might not be able to know if someone was sick with a fever. There is the type of thermometer you use to check the temperature outside. Without it you might not know what type of clothes to wear. There is one to check the temperature inside your oven. You need to know whether the temperature is just right or not for your food to be cooked. The thermometer that works with your furnace tells you what temperature it is set to match. Your fridge has one to tell you how cold it is inside. So the thermometer really does give you the ability to check someone or something's temperature.

6. Cotton Gin The cotton gin made picking cotton easier and faster. It changed this job from people handpicking cotton to a machine doing all the work which made this job quicker and easier. It inspired other cotton-picking tools such as the modern cotton gin.

7. Morse Code The importance of Morse Code is that it was the first long distance form of communication. The only other form of long distance communication before 1835, was sending a letter. It could take days or months to deliver a letter, if it even got there with the dangers of the Pony Express.

8. Wireless Communication Wireless communication is important because for the first time wires did not need to be attached to a phone or other devices for them to work. Communication became truly portable!

9. X-Rays X-rays have the ability to take pictures of bones in the body. Since the x-ray was invented to see “inside” the body, now we have ultrasound and catscan to take pictures of other things inside the body too. If they were not invented, then you might not know that a bone was broken.

10. Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle made exploring space possible. There were 135 missions in which many experiments were conducted including constructing the International Space Station.

11. World Wide Web The World Wide Web granted color, animation, music, and videos to the internet. The World Wide Web gave other people besides scientists access to the Internet. Before the World Wide Web only scientists could use the Internet. It was a green screen with black text.

12. Google Google is a search engine that makes finding other websites easier and faster. It is helpful because of these things. You can look at images, videos, and even maps! There is also all of the news. You can shop and email your friends and family. There is even a translator, books and blogs. Also, there is a calendar, photos, documents, sites and even Youtube! You can edit pictures and search for videos. As you can see Google has a lot to offer.

13. Conclusion Technology has changed our world by letting us communicate, entertain ourselves, and learn more. Phones, e-mail, and texting are technological forms of communication. TV, iPods, Video Games, and Computers are ways to entertain ourselves. The World Wide Web helps us learn. Technology has changed our world a lot. It has also changed our values. For instance if your computer is connected to the WWW then you probably value your computer a lot. Before the WWW you might not have valued your computer as much. Also, we go on the internet more or just talk on the phone for hours. Maybe this is where we are heading.

14. Technology in the Future Technology in the future could be good or bad. It could be good because of all of the new medicines that could be made to save lives. Someone could come up with a cure for Cancer or another disease. It could be very bad because people could make very dangerous weapons. Technology could make easier and faster ways to do things that take a long time to do and are difficult.