Core Technologies
Subpages (9): Bio Technology Electrical Technology Electronic Technology Fluid Technology Materials Technology Mechanical Technology Optical Technology Structural Technology Thermal Technology
Engineering requires a broad range of resources. These resources include, people, information, materials and tools. To better organize and understand these resources, the concept of the Core Technologies was created for technology/engineering teachers and students. There are 9 Core Technologies that categorize all recourses used by engineers. These categories are similar and related to some common engineering job titles, disciplines, and college majors.
Technology and Engineering have grown into enormous fields of study, industry and consumer service. To attempt to teach either (or both) in a single class (or even college major) would be impossible. In order to give students the most broad understanding of this vast subject an organization system (taxonomy) was needed to help make sense of it all. In the 1980's a group of educators and engineers came together to try to do just that for the Technology Education classes they were creating for middle and high school students. Rather than focusing on the technology products and systems created by inventors and engineers they looked for the basic building blocks that are need to design those systems. They looked to university engineering programs and engineering professionals to identify the categories of technology that had already been identified. They called these categories "Core Technologies" because they were at the heart of all technology systems. What they found were 9 Core Technologies that could be used to describe all technology (past, present and future). These Core Technologies were the right things to teach students, in a limited amount of class time, because the world of technology was changing so quickly. This fundamental understand of technology is the only thing that wouldn't be out dated and obsolete by the time the student graduated high school.
The Core Technologies will be one of the fundamental concepts that will be taught and used in all of the engineering classes at Highlands Ranch High School. They are used to organize the courses offered, units of study within courses and by students to understand existing systems and to design their own solutions to problems. Students are expected to develop a working understanding of the Core Technologies so that they can name, define, identify and give examples of the nine categories listed below. This level of understand will help students to design and improve the solutions they create and to understand and trouble shoot problems with existing systems.
Core Technology Web - Example (Dishwasher)
To put the Core Technologies in context with technology systems and engineering, please look at the "Derivation and Application of Technology Systems" graphic. Technology career teams (including engineers) combine the Core Technologies to produce technology systems (like cars, computers and the internet) which at then applied in all kinds of enterprises (such as manufacturing, transportation, commerce, and education). Institutions such as governments, businesses, and families purchase and use the technology systems do the things they need or want to do.
CORE TECHNOLOGIES
“The building blocks of technology”
The nine core technologies are used and combined to make all of the technology we use today and will be invented in the future.
This is just one way you can divide up technology to make this huge subject more understandable and easier to use.
Electrical Technology – The technology of producing, storing, controlling, transmitting and getting work from electrical energy.
(Power plant, power lines, light switch, doorbell, electric motor, batteries, generator and electric heater)
Optical Technology – The technology of producing light; controlling light; using light for information collection, processing, storage, retrieval and communication using light to do work.
(Light bulb, magnifying lenses, laser, compact disk, fiber optics)
Structural Technology – The technology of putting together parts and materials to create supports, containers, shelters, connectors and functional shapes.
(Water tower, buildings, roadways, table and chairs)
Fluid Technology – The technology of using fluid, either gases (pneumatics) or liquid (hydraulics) and apply force or to transport.
(Airbrakes on a truck, tires on a bike, hydraulic jack, plumbing, air ducts and fans)
Materials Technology – The technology of producing, altering and combining materials.
(Producing aluminum from ore, drilling holes in wood, welding metal)
Bio Technology – The technology of using, adapting and altering living organisms and biological processes for a desired outcome.
(Enzymes in detergent, yeast in bread, genetically engineered plants)
Mechanical Technology – The technology of putting moving parts together to produce, control and transmit motion.
(Car transmission – gears, bicycle breaks – lever, washing machine agitator – screw, doorknob – wheel and axle)
Thermal Technology – The technology of producing, storing, controlling, transmitting and getting work from heat energy.
(Furnace, toaster, refrigerator, hot air balloon, heat engine)
Electronic Technology – The technology of using small amounts of electricity for controlling, detecting, information collecting, storing, retrieving, processing and communicating.
(Video tape recorder, computer, telephone, radio, TV, metal detector)