Machines then and now

Before people had wheels to move heavy objects, they used rollers.. Thousands of years ago people built watermills next to rivers.. Thousands of years ago people used sundials.. Somc peo

M a c h i n e s

R o b e r t Q u i n n

the past and today

What is a nanobot?

R e a d a n d d i s c o v e r m o r e a b o u t t h e w o r t d !

i n t e r e s t i n g a n d e d u c a t i o n a I c o n t e n t , w i t h

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T h e n a n d N o w

Robert Quinnlntroduction

1 The First Machines 4

2 Round and Round 6

3 Ramps and Cranes 8

4 Water and Wind 10

5 Tetting the Time L2

6 Engines and Energy L4

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Lo reylrdlac phlttngrophs on(l othcr npyight ndlcndi: Alamy hnagcs

p p 3 ( A l a m l clock/studiomode), 9 (Conrainer teminal, Germany/

b l i c k w i n k e l ) 1 3 {Alarm clock/studiomode), 22 (Bucket wheel

e x c a v a t o r / l i l o n l i n e digitale Bildagenrur cnbH), 42 (Bucker

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p 1 1 ( W i n d t u r b i n c s i n wind firm/BdanJackson); Mirrorpix

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A P ) ; I ' h o t o l i b r a r y p p 3 ( E l e c t r i c cars (harging/Shmuel'Ihaler).

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Machines make our lives easier We use them

to do work, to travet, to communicate, and

to have fun Some machines are simple, withonly one or two parts Other machines arecomplex, with many parts that work together.What are the machines betow called?

What do we do with these machines?

Which of these machines do you use?

What other machines do you use?

I h i s book is printed on papcr ftont (L'rlified atrd well-managed sources

Now read and discover more about machines!

People used simple levers to move heavyobjects like rocks They put one end of along stick of wood under a big rock, andthey put a small rock under the stick $7henthey pushed on the other end of the stick,the big rock moved.

Roundond m

The wheel is one of the most important

inventions in history About 51500 years ago

potters used the first wheels to make clay

pots They put wet clay on a wooden wheel

Then they turned the wheel to make a nice

round pot

Before people had wheels to move heavy

objects, they used rollers The rollers were

made from tree trunks Then people made

carts and chariots with wooden wheels

They connected the wheels with a long bar

called an axle

Todav there are lots of machines withwheels W'e can see wheels on

cars) bicycles, and skateboards

There are also wheelchairsfor people who can't walkeasily Can you think ofmore machines thathave wheels?

The London Eye is a very big whei![:

It's 135 meters high! You get a great'view of London from the top!

Ramps are useful because they help us lift

objects more easily More than 51000 years

ago the Ancient Egyptians used ramps to

build pyramids The Great Pyramid at Giza

is the biggest pyramid in the world It's

138 meters high

The Egyptians used rollers ro move large

blocks of stone up the ramps They needed

lots of workers because the blocks were

very hear,ry

About 21500 years ago the Ancient Greeksused big cranes to build temples The craneswere made of wood, and they had many

ropes and little wheels called pulleys F'irstthe workers tied a rope to a block of stone.Then they put the rope around the pulley.They pulled the rope and lifted the block.The work was easier with cranes so theGreeks didn't need as

many workers asthe Egyptians

We use cranes today to tiftvery heavy objects The biggesttype of crane is the gantry cra

Somc machines use energy from nature

$Tatermills use energy from flowing water

Thousands of years ago people built

watermills next to rivers They used the

watermills to make flour from grain Then

they used the flour to make bread and

cakes \Watermills have a big wheel on the

outside The river turns the wheel Then the

wheel turns an axle inside the watermill

The axle turns a round millstone

that breaks the grain into flour

Windmills use energyli'orn the wind Hundredsol'years ago people startedrrsing windmills to make flour

Windmills have long arms withlrig sails The wind pushes the sailsrurcl turns the arms Inside the mill,rur axle turns a millstone Windmillsrrrc useful in places that don't haveIrig rivers, but they only work

whcn it's windy!

Today we use windmi[[s

to make electricity Modernwindmi[[s are ca[[ed windturbines

-"1r

I

In the past, people told the time in many

ways Thousands of years ago people used

sundials Sundials had a pointer thar made

a shadow to tell the time A sundial only

worked on sunny days!

Somc people also used water clocks Simple

watcr clocks had two pots \Water flowed

fiom the top por ro the bottom pot to tell

thc time Later, people used sand clocks.

These clocks had two glass bubbles with

sand inside them.

About 11000 years ago people inventedmechanical clocks with metal gears Somemechanical clocks have a pendulum tomove the parts Others have metal springs.Today many clocks are digital They showthe time with only numbers Digital clockswork with electricity They usually have

electrical cords or batteries Computers and cell phones have digital clocks, and many people wear digital watches.

For thousands of years people used animals

to do work Then inventors built steam

engines These engines heated water to

make steam The energy from the steam

made other machines work The first steam

engines usually used fuels like wood, coal,

or oil

People used steam engines to power

vehicles like trains and boats Many

factories used steam engines to power

their machines This was the beginning

of modern industrv

Then people invented new engines thatused fuels like oil, gasoline, and diesel.Now we use these engines for vehicles likecars, buses, planes, or helicopters They cancarry enough fuel to travel long distances.Today most vehicles use gasoline or diesel

as fuel Some vehicles use biodiesel madefrom plant materials There are also electriccars that use energy from batteries Somevehicles, like bicycles, use human energy!

Etectric cars are good forthe environment They don'tproduce smoke or pottution.

Tirday we can fly all over the world, but

200 years ago planes didn't exist Some

pcople flew in hot-air balloons These

balloons had no engines so they were

slow and hard to control

r_.1

Later, people invented airships They had

engines and propellers, so they were faster

and easier to control

In 1903 \(rilbur and Orville rU(rright invented

the first plane It was made of wood and

carried one person The first flight only

lasted for 12 seconds! Four years later a

French inventor named Paul Comu flew

one of the first helicopters He stayed in the

air for about 20 seconds

Today there are many types of plane.Some planes have propellers and othershave jet engines Some planes carry freightand others carry passengers Some modernplanes carry more than 850 passengers!Helicopters are very useful

They can transport food andmedicine in emergencies

They can also rescue peopleand take them to hospital

helicopter in the world ltcarries one person!

I Go to pages 36-37 for activities.

Iror a long time, people sent messages on

paper Then people invented new machines

to communicate more quickly and easily

In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell

invented the telephone It

transmitted sounds through wires

In 1895 Guglielmo Marconi

invented the radio It transmitted

sounds with no wires

In 1926 John Logie Baird invented

a way to transmit images and show

them on a screen It was the first

television, but it only showed black

and white images Then l8 years

later, inventors made a television

that showed images in color

Communications today are very different

\tr(le talk on cell phones that transmit soundswith no wires W'e can send text messages,photos, and videos Many cell phones arealso music players, and they can connect tothe Internet!

lUTith modern televisions, we can receiveprograms by satellite $7e can also watchDVDs Some televisions are very big There

is a television in Japan that is I I meters talland 66 meters long!

Some modern tetevisions can

be almost as thin as paper!

People invented the first computers more

than 60 years ago Those computers were

very different from computers today

One of the first computers was called

EI{IAC.II was built in about 1946 ENIAC

was big and heavy It weighed about

30 metric tons! It was also expensive - it

cost about 500,000 dollars!

Over the next 40 years computers became

smaller and cheaper From about 1980

people started using computers at home

Then in 1989 Tim Berners-Lee invented

the \7orld $7ide'Web or the S7eb

Computers today are very useful.You seeimages on a monitor and you use a keyboard

to type words.You use a mouse to move thecursor and click on buttons To connect tothe Internet you use a modem

Modern computers also have speakers soyou can listen to music or watch movies.You need a printer to print documents, and

to play computer games you need a joystick

\(rhat other things can computers do?

L

\

With modern technologyr we can build

machines that are very big or very small

The cruise ship Oasis of the Seas is one of

the world's largest passenger vehicles It's

65 meters high and 360 merers long It

carries 51400 passengers It has restaurants,

shops, cinemas, and three swimming pools!

The Bagger 288 is a mining machine

The DEI/SO Micro-Car is one of the world'ssmallest machines It's about 4.8 millimeterslong and 1.7 millimeters high It's smallerthan a finger! The car can move, but its topspeed is only 180 meters per hour In thefuture people will use micro-machines likethis to repair other machines from the inside

Scientists want to buitdmicro-machines calted nanobots

We wil.l need a microscopdtosee them! Doctors will ucet,, ;

:i:HHfl,',''jJ:Sln- il

It's 96 meters high and

240 meters long It'sone of the world'sheaviest land vehicles

It weighs 13,500metric tons!

work inside their

Wrhffi First Machfimms

ffi\ / $

X Complete the sentences.

456

1 The axe is made of

2 The knife is made of

3 The lever is made of

4 The plow is made of

5 The arrow is made of

6 The bow is made of

3 Comptete the sentences.

tools levers #ines ptows wood farming

1 Peopl.e started using mac.hinss about two mi[[ionyears ago

2 They used long pieces of

3 People startedyears ago.

for food about 7,000

They invented farming machines [ikeSome farmers used to get water

a b o u tPeople started making metal

5,000 years ago.

4 Answer the questions.

1 What did peop[e use to shoot arrows?

Fe*ple- **$d Ll*w* t* *h**t arrsu*

2 What did peopte build to get water for their plants?

3 How did people move heavy objects like rocks?

to make levers

4 When did people start making metal toots?

W ffiound amd Rmmnd Write true or false.

1 People used the first wheel about2,000 years ago

2 Peopte made ro[[ers from tree trunks

3 Cars usually have wheels and axtes

4 The first wheets were made of metal

5 The London Eye is 153 meters high

falee

$ Write the words.

ax[e cart ctay potrollers wheel car

4 Write the words.

A n a x l e is a bar

Potters used whee[s

The London Eye

Carts and chariots

is a very big wheel

-*to move heavy objects

are vehicles with wheels

that connects two wheels

to make ctay pots

5

2

ab

r e

H # ffiamps

1 What do ramps hetp us to do?

2 Why did the Egyptians need many workers?

3 How did the workers move the blocks up the ramps?

4 Where is the biggest pyramid in Egypt?

5 H o w h i g h i s th e b i g g e s t p y r a m i d ?

Complete the puzzte.

Write the words.

btock crane puttey ramp rope tempte

w @

tr Complete the sentences

btocks cranes putteys ramps ropes workers

1 The Egyptians used to buitd pyramids.

2 The

- of stone were very large and heavy

3 The Egyptians needed rotters and many

4 The Greeks used big _ made of wood

5 The Greeks had cranes with many ropes and _.

6 The workers putted the _ and tifted the btocks