THIS WEEK'S JOB // Walk the timeline from room-sized calculators to the phone in your pocket. (Book pages 12-25 in Mrs. Gaiser's book.)
THE THREE IDEAS
Computers used to be people
The word computer once meant a person hired to do arithmetic all day. The machines took the name when they took the job.
Smaller, faster, cheaper
Vacuum tubes became transistors became chips. Each jump made computers smaller and faster, until one fit in a backpack, then a pocket.
Why history matters
Every weird thing about computers today (files, folders, saving) is a fossil from this history. Knowing the story makes the machine make sense.
ON YOUR LOT
Pick one machine from the timeline in the book and be ready to tell the class one surprising fact about it.