Cooperative Collection Development -- CCD: Inventions and New Technology

Inventions and New Technology is an interdisciplinary inquiry spanning all human history from the innovations of our neolithic ancestors to the unimagined frontiers of the 21st century. It documents the growth of technology, the ideas and innovations that have improved human existence from the earliest tools of hunting and agriculture; through the great contributions of the early civilizations; to the industrial revolution with its consequences of good and evil; to the modern, postindustrial world of emerging technologies.

Research can follow the development of a particular invention; or life and work of an individual inventor. Or exploration of the innovations of a particular era or culture or development of an aspect of technology (Ex: transportation over time.) Another approach is examining the scientific principles involved in the invention or technology. The sociological aspects of inventions and how they affect and change society is also  in the scope of the collection.

The collection is used as a basis of units of study in Social Studies, Science and ELA in all grades.  It has been used for research in  Science and SS 8th grade exit projects. With the focus on non fiction reading, there are many titles of interest for individual student readings. 

2019/20 As the new year had barely begun, a dreaded zoonotic pandemic, Covid19, was sweeping across the world, killing thousands and shutting down world economies.  Can we learn from past epidemics and medical technology how to survive this crisis? 

2018/19   CLIMATE CHANGE and Environmental Engineering.  Can technology stop or mitigate the impending climate crisis.  How are inventions that clean the ocean, study the atmosphere, build green structures offering hope for controlling carbon emissions, making adjustments in agriculture and urban living to temperature and rainfall changes. 

2017/18 = STE(A)M FOCUS-  Our school has become a STEM aware school with Computer Science and Technology being emphasized a/cross the curriculum.  Many teachers are now using Google Classroom's virtual class spaces to create collaborative projects.  There are afterschool STEM and STEAM programs that are using the collection's energy, coding and engineering titles for research.  .

2016/17-What's New in the World?  This year's focus is on the newest emerging technologies and how they will impact the world, including libraries.  How will robots, 3D printing, drones,and magnet trains change manufacturing, the military, transportation? How will libraries reinvent themselves as holders of information-we are looking at students learning coding to create their own learning apps and programs, Can the library become a makerspace where learning becomes  three dimensional?  

2015- Focus on Renewable Energy Sources This year's Global Scholars course that is taken by the 6th grade honors classes is entitled "Building Better Cities."  It focuses on sustaintainability by using renewable energy sources and preparing for global climate shifts in building design and transportation.

2014-Future Inventions and Technology Leaders of Today.
Students selected inventions of the digital age and the companies that are innovating today. Students selected major inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries and found how they have been updated and improved; such as Bell's telephone and today's cell phone technology. They researched important technology leaders of today such as the late Steve Jobs and Apple, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Twitter and the rise of social media. They found emerging fields such as nanotechnology, driverless cars, drones and other innovations that a few years ago seemed to be in the realm of Science Fiction.

​2013- Top Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
This unit's instructional outcome is to have students be able to create an argument demonstrating why their invention had had an impact on society. Using the text, Top 100 Inventions, students selected a Top 10 Invention and researched its impact using multiple sources-print and e-texts, encyclopedias and recommended websites. T

2012- Consequences of Inventions PROs and CONs Creating Arguments using Common Core Standard bundles.
What are the prices and pitfalls of PROGRESS. Students in groups looked at inventions and innovations from past, present and perhaps the future. 

2011 Leonardo da Vinci-Inventions of the Renaissance
Social studies curriculum for the 6th grade European History includes studies of the Renaissance. 2

Margaret Borger, Curator

Irwin Altman MS 172

81-14 257th Street  Floral Park NY  11004

Ph:  718-831-4000x2312

email: mborger@schools.nyc.gov

Please contact the curator if you wish to borrow from this collection.