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If you were heading somewhere new, you needed a paper map to help you get there. You also had to know how to read it.
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Life Before Smartphones
Today, we can do almost anything with a device that fits in our pockets. But it hasn’t always been this way. Here’s what we needed 30 years ago.
From the March 2021 Issue
Featured Skill:
Visual Literacy,
Other Key Skill: supporting a claim
M4OS Photos/Alamy Stock Photo (podcast icon); Ink Drop/Alamy Stock Photo (Disney Plus icon); Shutterstock.com (all other images)
Maps
Cameras
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To take pictures, you used a camera and a $5 roll of film. Then you dropped your film off at a store to be developed into printed photos. It could take a week to see how your pictures turned out.
Forecasts
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Is it going to rain today? Back in the day, you had to watch the news or read the local newspaper to get the weather forecast.
Books
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Need to look something up? You might find the answer in your family’s encyclopedias—large books with information on a range of topics. Otherwise, it was off to the library you went. After all, there was no Google.
Cassettes
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Listening to music required a cassette tape and a music player like this Walkman. Want to listen to a certain song? You had to fast-forward through the whole tape until you found it.
Telephones
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Need to call someone for a ride home? You had to have a quarter to use the pay phone. You had to have phone numbers memorized too—or hope there was a phone book nearby.
Writing Prompt
Interview an adult about what life was like before smartphones. Then use information from your interview as well as the infographic to write an article with the title “Life Before Smartphones.” Your article can be written or it can be in the form of an audio recording or a video.
This article was originally published in the March 2021 issue.
Activities
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Reference
Writing Support
Activities
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Reference
Writing Support
Text-to-Speech