Story

Inventions and Machines Travel and Transport

Feet and horses

When are they going to invent shoes?

I don’t like the look of this!

The very first means of transport was… our feet! But soon people started thinking about how they could travel longer distances, faster. So, animals were domesticated and used for transportation. What other animals can we use as a means of transport?

Travel and Transport

The wheel

About 5500 BCE, somebody, somewhere, invented something very special: the wheel and axle! Animals could now pull carriages. People travelled this way for many years. In the beginning, carriages didn’t have any suspension. It was uncomfortable. It could also be dangerous. How do you say the number in the text? Why does transport need suspension?

Travel and Transport The boat

We also started to travel by water. We used the rivers and the seas. About 8000 years ago, people made very simple boats out of tree trunks. These first boats were called dugout canoes. Over the years boats developed. We added sails to use the power of the wind as well as rowing teams. Look at the picture. What is the dugout canoe made from?

Travel and Transport

Flying machines

One day, man will fly.

Hi! I’m Leonardo da Vinci. I was an artist and an engineer from Italy. I lived during the 15th and 16th century. I had some interesting ideas about transport. I studied the movement of birds. I dreamt about people flying like a bird. Are Leonardo da Vinci’s designs similar to today’s transport?

Travel and Transport

The first car

Hello! I’m Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. In 1769 I invented the first car. It used a steam engine. A steam engine heats water by burning coal. The steam can propel locomotives, ships, boats and road vehicles. James Watt invented the steam engine. My steam car had to stop every 10-15 minutes to produce more steam. It travelled very slowly. What important invention used coal to propel vehicles?

Travel and Transport

The paddle wheel steamship

Hi! My name’s Jouffroy d’Abbans. In 1776 I built the first paddle wheel steamship using a steam engine. It was called the Pyroscaphe. For the first time, ships didn’t need the wind or people to row. Steamships opened new trade routes. Smaller steam boats were popular on rivers. Larger steamships sailed the oceans. What type of ship was the Pyroscaphe?

Travel and Transport

The locomotive

Hello! My name’s Richard Trevithick. At the beginning of the 1800’s, I invented the road locomotive. During this time, horses pulled carriages on tracks. Tracks made it easier for the horses to pull the carriages. But I wanted to use steam engines instead of horses to pull carriages. Lots of people came to see the new road locomotive and I became famous. But, unfortunately, in the end, the machine didn’t work and it was rejected. Why did horses pull carriages on tracks?

Hi! My name’s George Stephenson. I lived in England. In 1825, I invented the first steam railway locomotive to carry passengers. It was the Locomotion No. 1. My son worked with me and we turned railway locomotives into a form of mass transport. The first American-built steam locomotive was called Tom Thumb. Tom Thumb raced against horses and carriages. The horse won the first race! But trains soon became more efficient and faster than horses. What was important about the Locomotion No.1?

Travel and Transport

The first electric car

Hello! My name’s Robert Anderson. In 1842 I invented the first electric car. It was very slow and the battery didn’t last long. Tramways also used electricity. They received constant electricity and didn’t need batteries. Electric cars improved after the invention of the rechargeable battery. By the 1900’s, electric cars were faster and better. You could even catch a taxi! Was Robert Anderson’s first electric car fast or slow?

Travel and Transport

The submarine

Hi! My name’s Isaac Peral. I was a Spanish Naval Officer. I was also an engineer. I applied the new electric battery to submarines. Submarines travel under water. They were invented during the 18th century, but, they were basic, man-powered and not very safe or efficient. In 1888 I invented the first electric-powered submarine. My submarine was faster, safer and easier to navigate. What was different about Isaac Peral’s submarine?

Travel and Transport

The petrol-powered car

Hello! My name’s Karl Benz. In the mid-19th century, the petrol engine was invented. Oil became the world’s favourite fuel and changed transport. I invented the first petrol-powered car. It reached a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour. It was noisy and difficult to start. The first tests scared the public. The car crashed into a wall! Oops! So I went back to work on it in my garage. How fast did the first petrol-powered car go?

One day, my wife, Bertha, took the car without asking. She drove herself and our sons to visit her mother. It was the first motorised long-distance journey. She made several repairs during the journey. She unblocked the petrol tube with a hatpin! She also discovered that driving up a hill was difficult, so gears were added later. Her daring journey was in the newspapers and the car became famous. Petrol cars eventually replaced electric cars. What did Bertha do during the journey?

Travel and Transport Aircraft

We really need one with an engine!

Hi! We’re the Wright brothers. We loved mechanics. We owned a bicycle shop. We were really interested in flying. We made kites to learn how to control flying machines. We enjoyed building and flying gliders. Gliders were the first simple aircrafts. They didn’t have an engine. Gliders are light and fly on the wind, like kites! How did the Wright brothers get the glider in the air without an engine?

It’s my turn next!

After years of studying gliders, we invented the first aircraft with an engine. At 10.35 a.m., on a cold day in North Carolina, on the 17th of December, 1903, our aircraft flew for 12 seconds. One of us was the pilot and the other one ran along on the ground. We took it in turns to fly it. Two years later our aircraft stayed in the air for 39 minutes. Do you think the first flights were dangerous? Why?

Travel and Transport

Spacecraft

Wow! I’m the first person to see the Earth!

Hello! I’m Yuri Gagarin. I was a Soviet cosmonaut. After conquering the skies, we looked at space travel. A competition started between powerful countries to be the first country to travel to space. This was called the Space Race. In 1961, I was the first person to orbit the Earth. I travelled to space in a spacecraft called Vostok 1. What was the Space Race?

<Brilliantbio_3_Transport_p19> Ilustrador. Apollo 11 en la superficie de la Luna. Neil Armstrong, lleva un traje espacial, tiene una bandera americana en su mano. y esta diciendo algo.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Eight years later, on the 16th of July, 1969, American astronauts left Earth and travelled to the Moon. Their spacecraft was called Apollo 11. On the 20th of July, the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the Moon. The astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the surface of the Moon. What is Neil Armstrong carrying in his hand? Why?

Travel and Transport

In the future...

2 return tickets to the Moon, please.

What? 4 million euros, please.

Nowadays, people use lots of different means of transport. Bicycles, cars, motorbikes, trains, metros, boats, hovercrafts, helicopters, aeroplanes… Trains can travel underneath the sea through tunnels now. We also have automated transport that doesn’t need a driver. We may even be able to pay to travel to the Moon on a spacecraft soon! What is a hovercraft?

Unfortunately, petrol engines pollute our environment. Lots of means of transport are returning to electricity. Soon, all cars will be electric again. Our mission now is to find fast and clean transport. What will transport look like in the future? What is the problem with petrol engines? Thank you to everyone who contributed to creating the transport we use today!