Answer the following questions on your own in your technology notebook.
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Did you find both costs and benefits for each technology? Do you think there are any technologies that have only costs or only benefits? Explain your answer.
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As people continue to use products, technology designers usually continue to make changes and improvements to products, such as lightbulbs. Do you think that an analysis of costs and benefits in the future would be different from one that you do today? Explain your answer.
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Can you think of other technologies that have been designed to reduce other types of pollution, such as water pollution? Make a list in your technology notebook. If you have time, do some research to find other technologies.
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The readings in this lesson presented four different technologies that focus on air quality. Each technology has taken a very different approach. Do you think it is likely that someone in the future might design a new technology that will reduce all six of the main types of pollutants in the air? Why or why not?
Answers to Reflect and Connect
Allow students time to answer these questions. Once they have had time to complete the questions, you may want to hold a class discussion on some or all of them.
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Did you find both costs and benefits of each technology? Do you think there are any technologies that have only costs or benefits? Explain your answer.
Students should recognize that all of the technologies here have both costs and benefits. For each of them, there is a benefit of helping to reduce air pollution. Most of them have other benefits as well. At the same time, each technology has costs. In fact, all technologies have costs and benefits. If a student comes up with an idea that he or she believes has only costs or benefits, hold a discussion with the class. Ask students if anyone would care to agree or disagree. In most situations, students will be able to come up with both costs and benefits.
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As people continue to use products, technology designers usually continue to make changes and improvements to products, such as lightbulbs. Do you think that an analysis of costs and benefits in the future would be different from one that you do today? Explain your answer.
The process of design usually continues. As a technology is used and tested, ideas about how to improve it often surface. For example, LED lightbulbs may be dim now and very expensive. In 5 or 10 years, however, there may be improved LED lights that are bright and affordable. When the features improve, judgments about costs and benefits change.
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Can you think of other technologies that have been designed to reduce other types of pollution, such as water pollution? Make a list in your technology notebook. If you have time, do some research to find other technologies that reduce pollution.
In this lesson, students have focused on technologies to monitor or improve air quality. They probably have heard about other types of pollution as well. Students may know of some technologies that improve water quality. For example, in some areas of the country, there is emphasis on minimizing runoff of chemicals that can get into water supplies. Depending on the time available, you may ask that students do research either in class or outside of class to find an example or two.
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The readings in this lesson presented four different technologies that focus on air quality. Each technology has taken a very different approach. Do you think it is likely that someone in the future might design a new technology that will reduce all six of the main types of pollutants in the air? Why or why not?
Although it is possible that a future technology would be able to reduce all types of pollutants in the air, this may not be likely. As students might be able to tell from the readings about catalytic converters and electrostatic precipitators, in particular, dealing with different kinds of gases and particulates each brings challenges. Optimizing one technology for all different pollutants may result in a product that is either so complicated or expensive that it is not feasible to use.