Communication

Question 1

What is communication?

Answer 1

Way of sending a message

To tell someone something by talking or writing

Question 2

How do we communicate?

Answer 2

Language (7000 in world)
Symbols 
Art
Song
Dance and Movement

Question 3

List some old forms of communication

Answer 3

Storytelling
Drums
Smoke signals
Carrier pigeon

Question 4

How was storytelling communication?

Answer 4

People may not have been able to read.
Stories were a way that information was passed on through generations.
How true were the stories? Some could have been changed through the years

Question 5

How were drums communication?

Answer 5

The sound of drums could travel to neighbouring tribes.

The pattern of drumming would give a message (like morse code)

Question 6

When were smoke signals useful?

Answer 6

When people were far from each other, this was a quick way to send a message

Question 7

What was the first airmail?

Answer 7

Carrier pigeon: letter ties to pigeon’s foot

Question 8

What were the earliest forms of communication in SA?

Answer 8

These were all for written communication
Postal stones
Runners
Horseback riders
Stage/ mail coaches

Question 9

What was the postal stone system?

Answer 9

Letters were left under ‘postal stone’ for other ships

These were wrapped in oil skins to keep them dry

Question 10

What was the postal runner system?

Answer 10

Slaves would deliver messages from farm to far.

Letters were carried in a cleft stick

Question 11

Why did horseback riders and stage coaches develop as a form of delivering messages?

Answer 11

The distance between communities grew larger
Size of packages grew larger (so stage coaches were developed)
People also wanted to be transported

Question 12

How has the postal system changes over time?

Answer 12

Changes in transport to make deliveries quicker
First people delivered the messages
Then animals were used since it was faster
Then various forms of transportation depending upon size and urgency of package/ letter

Question 13

How is transportation of letters and packages paid for?

Answer 13

Using postage stamps.

These indicate that the transportation has been paid for.

Question 14

Why was the “wireless telegraph” developed?

Answer 14

Speed

Question 15

What was the “wireless telegraph”?

Answer 15

Use radio waves to transmit signals to a receiver without wires.
Morse code was used

Question 16

How does the radio work?

Answer 16

The radio changes sounds and signals into radio waves.
Radio waves travel through air, space and solid objects
Radio receiver changes radio waves back into sounds

Question 17

Why did radios become the centre of family entertainment?

Answer 17

The family could listen to news, stories and music.
Previously they would have had to go out to a concert, or have someone play at their home if they were rich
This could have been too expensive, and too far away.

Question 18

What is a typewriter?

Answer 18

Small machine that people used to write printed words on a piece of paper

Question 19

Why were they developed?

Answer 19

Faster to write than by hand
Print easier to read than handwriting
More than one copy could be made

Question 20

Why are the keys on the typewriter not in alphabetical order?

Answer 20

First typewriters had keys arranged in an alphabetical order, but people typed so fast that the mechanical character arms got tangled up.
As a result the keys were randomly positioned to actually slow down typing and prevent key jams.

Question 21

What was the telegraph?

Answer 21

Way of sending a message along a wire

Question 22

How does the telegraph work?

Answer 22

Sends electrical signals to represent words or letters

Question 23

How did the telegraph become more useful?

Answer 23

Samuel Morse invented “More Code”. Each letter and number is represented by a series of sounds.
These are converted into a message by the operator/ receiver

Question 24

What invention was an improvement on the telegraph?

Answer 24

The telephone

Question 25

Why was the telephone an improvement on the telegraph?

Answer 25

It allowed voice messages to be sent along wires, rather than just electrical signals

Question 26

How did the telephone change people’s lives?

Answer 26

Made communication earlier and faster
People could contact emergency services more easily for assistance
Helped business people communicate faster

Question 27

Who invented the telephone, and when?

Answer 27

Alexander Graham Bell

1876

Question 28

What is the Personal Computer (PC)?

Answer 28

A multi-purpose ALL-IN-ONE machine:
typewriter
library
calculator
telephone
dvd player

Question 29

What can a PC do?

Answer 29

Type letter
Store information
connect to the internet
send emails
play games, music and movies

Question 30

What do you think has driven the changes in communication over time?

Answer 30

The desire for faster communication
This had led to devices becoming smaller and portable
Now we can communicate in most places in the world, at any time!