The little transistor that could

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Lessons.cfm?DocID=140

A lesson plan for Grades 7–8 Computer Technology Skills and Science

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

About this resource

Appropriate grades

7–8

Subjects

science (technology and innovation)

Provider

American Association for the Advancement of Science

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The purpose of this lesson is to explore the nature of technology through the history of the transistor. In this investigation students will look at the development of a technology that has had a huge impact on modern life—the transistor. Students will look at some of the constraints that affected the development of the transistor and will examine the wide-ranging effect of a single innovation. Students will examine how the engineers at the Bell Labs used knowledge of science and technology, together with strategies of design, to solve practical problems. This is important because even in middle school students typically do not distinguish between an engineering model of experimentation where the goal is to produce a desirable outcome and the scientific model of experimentation where the goal is to understand the relation between cause and effect.

Although the main focus of this investigation is not on the scientific aspects of the transistor, it would be helpful if students have already had some exposure to the physical properties of conductors and insulators.