Cars Then and Now. By: Yara S. Mignon

Transcription

1 Cars Then and Now By: Yara S. Mignon

2 Chapter 1 The Invention of the Car What would the world be like without cars? Many people would ride bikes everywhere. Or horses. Think about it. Bikes are no fun in the rain. Horses don t have radios or heaters! It would also take longer to get anywhere. Before cars, horse carts carried people and products.

3 Cars have changed our world. Because of cars, we move about quickly and in comfort. But who invented the car? In 1769, Nicolas Cugnot was the first to design and build a working car. It ran on steam. It was very slow and it had to stop every few minutes. Then other people built cars. These first cars looked like carriages without a horse. Most people could walk faster than Cugnot s car could move!

4 In the 1880s, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler built the first cars that used gasoline. These cars looked more like the cars we drive today. So, in a way, Benz and Daimler were the first to invent modern cars. Karl Benz s first car had only three wheels. But it was the best car at the time.

5 The first cars cost too much for most people to buy. Henry Ford was an American car maker. He stated making cars on an assembly line. On an assembly line, each worker does only one job. This is a much faster, cheaper way of making things. Today, many cars and other products are made this way in factories. Cars became cheaper to make and buy when they were made on an assembly line.

6 Before assembly lines, it took Ford s workers more than 12 hours to make one car. After, it took only 90 minutes. But the 1920s, Ford was making one car every 43 seconds! Because they were cheap to make, Ford s cars were cheap to buy. This allowed more people to own a car. All Model-T Fords like this one were painted black because that was the cheapest color.

7 Chapter 2 Inventions that Improved Cars The first cars broke down a lot. They were dangerous, and often hard to steer. They were different from modern cars. Modern cars are comfortable, powerful, and safe. If it rains, you turn on the windshield wipers. If you stop suddenly, seat belts protect you. If you are cold, you can turn on the heater. You can even listen to the radio or play a CD. The first cars did not have keys. They had to be started by hand.

8 Over the years, many inventions have improved cars. The time line shows inventions that made modern cars better.

9 In the 1940s and 1950s, cars were made more powerful. But these cars used a lot of gas. When the price of gas went up, smaller engines that used less gas were needed. Soon more people wanted smaller cars. Small cars didn t cost as much and they didn t take up as much parking space. The car of the 1950s was almost twice as long as a small car today.

10 Some car parts were invented long before cars. The odometer is an instrument that shows how many miles a car has been driven. In the 1800s, a group of settlers used odometers in their wagons. Much later, odometers were added to cars. The odometer of this car shows that the car has been driven 12,000 miles (around 20,000 km).

11 Today cars have computers in them. Computers help control everything from the engine to the windshield wipers. Some cars eve have a special computer with a builtin map. If the driver gets lost, the computer can show how to get home. Some new cars are made with a computer that acts like a police officer. The computer keeps track of a car s speed and seatbelt use. It can give real officers a report on how fast a car was going or if seat belts are ever worn. Today some cars come with DVD players.

12 Chapter 3 Cars of the Future Cars have made our lives better in many ways. But cars burn gas that causes pollution. Pollution can make people, animals, and plants sick. Many people still drive big cars that use too much gas and make a lot of pollution. In the future, people will probably have smaller cars. Some people now drive hybrid cars that use both electricity and gas. These cars save energy and cause less pollution.

13 Today, scientists are trying to invent cars that do no pollute. Some of these cars use power from the sun. These cars used to be slow, but now anymore. In 2004, the Nuna 2 became the worlds fastest car powered by the sun. It can travel up to 105 miles per hour. Cars then and now have changed because of inventions. And cars of the future will be shaped by even newer inventions. Someday, they may even lift off the ground and soar into the sky. Cars powered by the sun have flat tops so they can soak up the sun s rays.