Past and Present

Because of technology, we can write faster, and we can deliver our messages faster now than in the past! Long ago, letters were hand-written, and the mailman rode a horse to deliver mail! Can you imagine that? It would take a while for the letters to travel! Now, we can mail letters by putting them in our mailbox, and they are transported by car or airplane. There is also an even faster way to send a letter. Click the box below to find out.

Wow! Technology sure has changed how we can communicate! It used to take days or even weeks to deliver letters. Now, with technology, we can send an e-mail, and it can be received within seconds.

We have been learning about how travel, or transportation, has changed over time. Just like how technology has changed communication, technology has made travel much faster! Think about how long it takes to travel on a horse compared to traveling in a car. New inventions create faster ways to travel. We use cars most often to travel, but there are many other ways for us to travel quickly today. Do you know the types of travel below?

Click on the pictures to learn more about the different kinds of transportation.

	A subway is a train that runs underground. A subway takes people to different places in the city. It does not have to worry about stopping traffic. The cars above on the street can keep going. The subway train does not have to stop for them.
	A motorcycle is like a very fast bicycle. It has an engine like a car. It can carry one or two people only. It can drive on the city streets to take people where they need to go.
	A train carries many people at one time. It can go for a very long distance. It must follow the tracks to get where the people need to go. It can go faster than a car or motorcycle. A train conductor is the person who drives the train.
	An airplane flies in the sky. It can go far distances. It can travel over land and water. It can go faster than a car. It can go faster than a train. It can carry many people at one time.
	A rocket ship flies into outer space. It can circle around planet Earth. It can travel faster than a car. It can travel faster than an airplane. It can carry several astronauts and equipment to space.

Wow! We have very fast ways of traveling compared to long ago.

Another word for play is recreation. Playing can include activities you like to do...and ways to play and rest. Think about things that you like to do. We can call these hobbies. Hobbies include sports, arts, music, cooking, exercising, community service, and much more! Technology has changed how we have fun with our hobbies.

Take a look at how art has changed. The picture below shows art in the past. Click the picture to see art with new technology.

We can use technology to create art! What’s your favorite hobby? Can you think about how technology has changed it over time?

Cooking is also a hobby. When you cook, you use a recipe. In the past, recipes came from other people or from cookbooks. Now, we can find recipes on the Internet!

Can you think of your favorite recipe? Do you have it written down in a book? Do you look up your recipes on the computer?

A fun way to relax and be entertained is watching a movie. Today, we have movie theaters and televisions to watch movies at home. That’s what we are used to, but that’s not the way it always was! Did you know that the first movie made didn’t have any color? It was black and white! The technology used to play a movie was much different than today. Look below at movie theaters in the past compared to movie theaters today.

Have you been to a movie that was in black and white? Probably not. Movie theaters today have lots of color and sound. It can be so much fun to watch a movie at the movie theater.