People and Technology explores relationships between technology and society. It was designed as a social studies course for the middle grades. Teachers of science, mathematics, language arts, and technology education can use the lessons, which contribute to a curriculum that provides an interdisciplinary approach to learning.

With its variety of learning strategies and diverse content, P & T can be relevant, appealing, and empowering to children of diverse abilities. Activity-centered learning situations require students to work together in groups.

Taking middle school students' level of cognitive development into account, People and Technology integrates three main learning strategies: manipulative activity, case study, and community exploration. Five basic questions guide student inquiry throughout the project:

1. What is technology?

2. How do people shape its use?

3. How does technology affect society?

4. How can we make technology more harmonious with nature?

5. How can we use technology to create a more humane way of life?

These questions aim at providing practice and support for open-ended discussions. As students explore questions, they increase their knowledge, their ability to conceptualize, their ability to listen to each other, and their confidence in expressing their own views. The project attempts to get students to reflect on their own experiences, to better understand their own values, and to consider the values of others when making decisions.

History of Development

The Education Development Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developed this project through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Consultants to the developers included scientists, engineers, social scientists, and teachers. The project was field tested in a number of schools.

Organization of the Project

The original P & T materials consisted of booklets, posters, plans, films, filmstrips, charts and diagrams, and CULTURE & TECHNOLOGY contains almost all of these resources. The materials are intended for use by students working individually or in small groups. An introductory booklet, Tooling Up, contains five activities meant to precede units on whaling and the Volta Dam. Each unit consists of three parts:

1. The Technological System;

2. Social Implications of the System; and

3. The Impact of the System on the Community.

Time to complete each part depends on how many of the related activities each student or group chooses to do.