COMPUTERS: MAKING THEIR STAMP IN HISTORY BY JULIE HAUBER, ACADEMY OF THE SACRED HEART

| Introduction | Task | Resources | Student Worksheet |  Teacher Guide |  

Introduction

	Can you imagine life without computers?  Close your eyes a minute and think about how different your life would be without the computer.   Have you thought about it?  Really thought about it?
	The computer has been called "The Machine that Changed the World" and been named Time's  "Machine of the Year" in 1982.  But I'm sure you know that lots of people have contributed to the development of making the machines that are around you today.
	You also know that to commemorate people and events, the United State Post Office will produce new stamps for good old snail mail.  At times, the public nominates or votes on what will be honored, such as the "Celebrate The Century" decades stamps.
	On this WebQuest, you will learn about some of the important events in the history of computers.  Then you'll select some of the people and events involved to design stamps to honor their contributions.

Task

	Select different events in the history of computers to create a series of six stamps.  In this series, you need to include: one "old" event (pre-1945) one "recent" event (the past decade) one woman important in the history of computers one hardware item one software item one item of your choosing
	For each stamp, you'll want the information you'll need for your worksheet (below): a picture the year the name(s) of the person (or company) involved a brief description of the event

Resources

For information on the history of computers, try the following sites:

	Computer History Museum <<http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/index.page>> (This site has various timelines that cover the history of computers from 1945-1990.  They have a large collection of pictures and summaries events, people, machines, components, and programs from 1945-1990.)
	Smithsonian Computer History Collection <<http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/comphist/>> (The Smithsonian has a collection of computer history on display, including the ENIAC computer, Hollerith's punch card machine, and the first computer bug!)
	Computers: History and Development <<http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/comp_hd.html>> (This multimedia encyclopedia article gives a good overview of computer history with links to pictures of people and machines.)
	A History of Computers  <<http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm>> (Click on the dates on the extensive timeline on the left for landmark events and people in technology's history.)
	Past Notable Women of Computing <<http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/past-women-cs.html>> (This web site celebrates the women who have contributed to the history of computers with short biographies, quotes, and pictures.)
	Charles Babbage Institute: Resources on the History of Computers <<http://www.cbi.umn.edu/resources/websites.html>> (If you still need information, this site has an excellent collection of web addresses on the history of computers, that the Institute has checked for reliability.)

For examples of stamps: 

Visit the Post Office <<http://www.btinternet.com/~alexandergrant/quotes/gstamps.htm >>(All the stamps you see on this page were from here.  There are plenty more for your snail mail and stamp collecting needs!)

To get the cost of stamps (and see what was going on in the world):

On This Day in History (dMarie Time Capsule) <<www.dmarie.com/timecap>> (Type in any date along with the year as directed and click on "Quick Page" to get the cost of a first-class stamp and a lot of other fun information!)

Student Worksheet

Create a worksheet in Word to collect your findings:  Title the page "History of Computers." Insert a table (click Table, then Insert) with 4 columns and 7 rows. In the first row, give your column headings: picture, year, person, event Shade the first row (click Format, then- Borders and Shading) and adjust your column sizes (move your mouse between the columns until your get the double-headed arrow, then drag) to fit the content going into them (for example, you'd want to make your column for year smaller than your column for the description of the event.) Select any six events to meet the task guidelines.  Download pictures from the web and save them into your folder or copy and paste them directly into your table. As you collect information to fill in your table, keep track of where you got your information (you'll put your references in a footnote or endnote)--it's OK if you get all your information from one site and it's also OK if you get your information from several sites. Example:

Check to make sure you have info for each of the stamps you need. Make a footnote or endnote (click Insert, then Footnote or Endnote--your choice) with your web citations . Save your worksheet into your folder.
Create your stamps in Paint or PhotoEditor. Save the stamp background on the right into your folder. Open it up in Paint. Copy and paste your picture onto the top of the stamp background. Find out the cost of postage at the time of the invention and put that on your stamp. Save your stamps--each with a different name--into your folder.
Create a new table in Word to present your stamps with your information:   Design your table according to your preference (example: 2 columns with 6 rows or 4 columns with 3 rows)--a page of stamps can come in a variety of ways. Insert (click Insert, then Picture, from File, then browse for your file to insert) your stamps! Write a brief description of the event that goes with your stamp from the information you gathered on your worksheet.  Also, indicate what stamp it is: hardware, software woman, old, recent, or other. Save this table into your folder also. Example:

Additional Information for Teachers

| Background | Objectives | Standards | Instructions | Additional Activities | Back to Beginning of Student Quest |

Background

Objectives

Students should be able to: Demonstrate knowledge of some famous people, events, and inventions in the history of computers. Create, format, and edit tables in Word for information and pictures. Create a footnote and/or endnote in Word for web references. Copy and paste pictures into Word; insert pictures into Word. Copy and paste pictures in Paint (or PhotoEditor) and edit pictures.

Standards

Instructions

Materials: 

• Computers (best in a lab setting) with the following programs:

  • Word

  • Paint (or other photo program such as PhotoEditor)

  • Internet browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator)

• Stamp samples (current postage stamps plus those already done for famous computer inventors)

• Stamp templates (save one of the ones below or create your own)
  

• Large-sized timeline to post the stamps on in the end (make your own on bulletin board paper or use Timeliner to print out a large blank timeline then simply tape the pages together)

SBE Unit Planner (to introduce the unit and standards)

Starter Questions (to find out what information the students already know) 

Assessment (grading rubric)

Time: 

Research and data collection takes students approximately 1 - 1½  hours Creating stamps takes students about 1 - 1½ hours

Additional Activities

• Collate the responses into one chronological table of events.

• Discuss the events and try to come up with a definition for computer.

• Using Timeliner, have students create a timeline of the events they came up with.  (They can insert their stamps images here as well.)

• Watch Triumph of the Nerds, The Machine that Changed the World (or similar computer history video) which highlights some events in computer history.

• Play Who Wants to be a Millionaire with computer history questions.

• Ask students to decide on one main computer invention for a Time cover of "Computer Invention of the Year (for the year it was done)"  Can students come to a consensus?  (Time's Machine of the Year cover can be found at <<ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Time.MOTY.1982.html>>)

This WebQuest was created as part of TECH in ED: WebQuests for Concept Development and Inquiry to Accomplish LA Content Standards June, 2002.  Please e-mail me with any questions or problems with the page.