Telephone History

Objectives

• Students will view a series of photographs documenting the history of the telephones.
• Students will identify the first telephone headset and first cordless phone.
• Students will write a paragraph explaining how the photographs support their answers.

Description

This site was developed by PBS as an online complement to its "American Experience" television series. It provides, among other resources, a visual history of the telephone.

Suggested Activities

• Have students design a futuristic communication device. Students should draw their inventions and label them carefully so that their functions are easily apparent. Have students present their inventions to the class.

Level Activities

• Have students connect to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/kidszone/history_cellphone.html. Have students read the the information presented on the page and discuss the way cell phones have changed communications. Then have students:
  discuss, in groups, how their lives would be different without cell phone technology.
discuss, in groups, how cell phone technology has transformed communication.
discuss, in groups, how the evolution of communication technology may have changed the way people relate to one another.