Name: J-zeil O.

Pelayo BSAT
Teacher: Ms. Claudine Tul-id

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET #2

Course Title: Science, Technology, and Society

Type of Activity: Table
Activity Title: Inventions during the Middle Ages
Duration: 2 HOURS
Learning Target/s: 
a. Discuss the interactions between S & T and society throughout history.
b. Discuss how scientific and technological developments affect society and the
environment.
c. Identify the paradigm shifts in history.
References/Resources:
 https://www.youtube.com/watchv=YXh9RQCvxmg&noredirect=1 - Youtube:
World’s Greatest Inventions (3minutes)
 https://explorable.com/scientific-reductionism
 https://explorable.com/what-is -a paradigm

A. Concept Digest

Middle Ages (5 to 15 Century)

th th

The Middle Ages, or medieval time, is generally believed to have started with the fall of
the Roman Empire in 476 and to have lasted about 1,000 years until about 1450. The beginning of
the Middle Ages is called the Dark Ages because the great civilizations of Rome and Greece had
been conquered.

Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with
the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.
The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical
antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into
the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

B. Examples

Middle Ages Inventions

Paper
  Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically and/or chemically
processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in
water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed on the surface,
followed by pressing and drying. Although paper was originally made in single sheets by hand,
almost all is now made on large machines—some making reels 10 metres wide, running at
2,000 metres per minute and up to 600,000 tonnes a year. It is a versatile material with many
uses, including printing, packaging, decorating, writing, cleaning, filter paper, wallpaper, book
endpaper, conservation paper, laminated worktops, toilet tissue, currency and security paper
and a number of industrial and construction processes.

 The papermaking process developed in east Asia, probably China, at least as early as 105
CE, by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although the earliest archaeological fragments of paper
derive from the 2nd century BCE in China. The modern pulp and paper industry is global, with
China leading its production and the United States following.

 It is made paper by mixing finely chopped mulberry bark and hemp rags with water, mashing it
flat, and then pressing out the water and letting it dry in the sun. Ts’ai Lun’s paper was a big
success, and began to be used all over China. With paper available, Buddhist monks in China
began to work on ways of mass-producing prayers. By 650 AD they were block-printing
prayers. 

 The invention of paper was so important to China that the Emperor made Ts'ai Lun a noble.

 From this time paper has been in use everywhere and is called the "paper of Marquis Tsai."

 Since the invention of writing, people had been trying to come up with something easier to
write on than papyrus or parchment, and also something easier and cheaper to make. 

 Back then, scrolls of silk were being used as books. But the development of calligraphy and the
animal hair brush, and the resulting proliferation of literature, created the need for a writing
material that was cheaper and more practical than pure silk. In fact, part of the Chinese
ideogram character for "paper" means "silk." Ts'ai Lun's paper was made from rags, used
fishing nets, hemp and China grass.

C. Exercises

Instruction: List 10 inventions during middle ages. Use the table below. 

Science & INVENT WHEN/ HISTORICAL REMARKS

Technolog OR/S WHERE ANTECEDENT
y INVEN (past incidents/
PRODUC precursor/
 TS TED compelling reasons
for inventions)
Example:

Paper Ts'ai Lun, 105 AD, -Since the invention -It is made paper by mixing finely
an official China of writing, people chopped mulberry bark and hemp rags
in the had been trying to with water, mashing it flat, and then
Chinese come up with pressing out the water and letting it dry
royal court something easier to in the sun. Ts’ai Lun’s paper was a big
write on than success, and began to be used all over
papyrus or China. With paper available, Buddhist
parchment, and also monks in China began to work on ways
something easier and of mass-producing prayers. By 650 AD
cheaper to make.  they were block-printing prayers.
 -Back then, scrolls -The invention of paper was so
of silk were being important to China that the Emperor
used as books. But made Ts'ai Lun a noble.
the development of - From this time paper has been in use
calligraphy and the everywhere and is called the "paper of
animal hair brush, Marquis Tsai."
and the resulting
proliferation of
literature, created
the need for a
writing material that
was cheaper and
more practical than
pure silk. In fact,
part of the Chinese
ideogram character
for "paper" means
"silk." Ts'ai Lun's
paper was made
from rags, used
fishing nets, hemp
and China grass. 
1. Wind Daniel 7th - The first practical In the Middle Ages most windmills
mills Halladay , 15th windmills are were used as mills proper - for grinding
century constructed in or
In region
before the 9th corn into flour, the inhabitants of the
spanning manor usually having to take their corn
century in a region
eastern
Iran and
spanning eastern to the lord's mill; exclusive possession of
Iran and western the manorial mill was one of the
western
Afghanistan. They
Afghanista
are descibed in a
privileges that the manorial lords
n generally managed to arrogate to
manuscript by
Estakhri, a Persian themselves.
georgrapher of that
period, as having
horizontal sails, like
the blades of a
helicopter, directly
linked by a vertical
shaft to the
millstones turning
 below. The date of
the first windmill is
often given as 644
or earlier, because a
9th-century
document says that
the man who in that
year assassinated
the caliph Omar in
the mosque at
Medina was a
Persian builder of
windmills. But a first
mention of this two
centuries after the
event makes it
unlikely to be true.

2. Movabl Bi Sheng 960- Woodblock printing Movable-type printing” is a way to

e Type 1279 was already a widely reproduce written material, usually on
Printin AD used technique in paper, by first forming upraised letters
g the Tang Dynasty. or other figures on small blocks called
However, this kind types. A printer arranges the types
of printing tech was within a frame on a press to form words
expensive and time- and then prints a page of writing.
consuming. Until the
Song Dynasty (960-
1279), a man named
Bi Sheng (990–1051)
invented movable
type printing,
making it quicker
and easier. He first
carved individual
characters on pieces
of clay and then
harden them with
fire. These movable
type pieces were
later glued to an iron
plate to print a page
and then broken up
and redistributed for
another page. This
kind of printing tech
rapidly spread across
Europe, leading up
to the Renaissance,
and later all around
the world.

3. Porcela great 581 – Porcelain is a great Porcelain White, glass-like, non-porous,

in invention invention of ancient hard, translucent ceramic. Porcelain is
 of ancient 618 AD China. The earliest used for tableware, decorative objects,
China porcelain emerged laboratory equipment, and electrical
in Shang Dynasty insulators. It was developed by the
(1600– 1046 BCE) Chinese in the 7th or 8th century.
and matured during
the Tang Dynasty
(618- 906). During
the Song Dynasty
(960–1279),
porcelain production
technology reached
an unprecedented
height due to its
focus on shape and
the tactile
experiences of the
glaze. Chinese
porcelain was highly
prized in the world
and many artworks
had been introduced
to the West through
the Silk Road.

4. Earthq brilliant 78-140 According to court A seismograph, or seismometer, is an

uake inventor AD) in records of the later instrument used to detect and record
Detect Zhang 132 AD Han Dynasty, a earthquakes. During an earthquake, the
or Heng seismograph was base moves and the mass does not. ...
created by the The motion of the base with respect to
brilliant inventor the mass is commonly transformed into
Zhang Heng (78-140 an electrical voltage.
AD) in 132 AD. Its
function is to
determine the
direction of an
earthquake. In 138
AD, this instrument
indicated an
earthquake
occurring in Longxi a
thousand kilometers
away. It was the first
time that mankind
to detect an
earthquake. Modern
seismographs only
began development
in 1848 in Europe.

5. Rocket ancient 228 A.D China is hometown Rocket is a general term used broadly to
 Chinese of rockets, ancient describe a variety of jet-propelled
inventors Chinese inventors missiles in which forward motion
created rockets by results from reaction to the rearward
applying counter- ejection of matter (usually hot gases) at
force produced by high velocity.
ignited gunpowder.
According to history,
in 228 A.D. the Wei
State already used
torches attached to
arrows to guard
Chencang against
the invading troops
of the Shu State.
Later the Song
Dynasty (960-1279)
had adapted
gunpowder to make
rockets. A paper
tube stuffed with
gunpowder was
attached to an arrow
which can be
launched by a bow.
This kind of ancient
rockets and
improved ones were
widely used in
military and
entertainment
activities in China.

6. Paper first 9th Paper money were Actually Chinese are responsible for
Money developed century first developed by countless inventions that have helped
by the A.D the ancient Chinese, shape the world history. Without these
ancient who started using inventions by the ancient Chinese, the
Chinese folding money at the humankind would have taken more
end of the 8th or centuries to develop to the current
beginning of the 9th phase.
century AD. Paper
bills were originally
used as privately
issued bills of credit
or exchange notes. A
merchant could
deposit his cash in
the capital, receiving
a paper “exchange
certificate” which he
could exchange for
 metal coins in other
cities.

7. Row 6th In other parts of the In practice, the term “row crop” usually
Crop century world, farmers still refers to annual crops that are
Farmin BC. scattered seed onto mechanically harvested on a large scale.
g the fields randomly. This makes it roughly synonymous with
While ancient field crops / agronomic crops, but not
Chinese started exactly: “row crop” can include some
planting crops in mechanically harvested annual specialty
rows from the 6th crops (such as tomatoes and onions).
century BC. They
planted individual
seeds in rows, thus
reducing seed loss
and making crops
grow faster and
stronger. This
technology was not
used in the western
world until 2200
years later

8. A  Buddhist 1094 After six years' the power comes from a water wheel occupying the lo
tower monk by work, a Buddhist of the tower. Su Song has designed a device which st
clock the name monk by the name water wheel except for a brief spell, once every quart
in of Su Song of Su Song hour, when the weight of the water (accumulated in v
China completes completes a great the rim) is sufficient to trip a mechanism. The wheel,
a great tower, some thirty forward, drives the machinery of the tower to the nex
tower feet high, which is
stationary point in a continuing cycle.
designed to reveal
the movement of This device (which in Su Sung's tower must feel like a
the stars and the earthquake every time it slams the machinery into ac
hours of the day.
an early example of an escapement - a concept essen
Figures pop out of
mechanical clockwork. In any form of clock based o
doors and strike
machinery, power must be delivered to the mechanis
bells to signify the
hours. intermittent bursts which can be precisely regulated.
rationing of power is the function of the escapement.
birth of mechanical clockwork awaits a reliable versio
developed in Europe in the 13th century.

9. Specta The from During the 13th Spectacles, or reading glasses, were
cles philosophe the century it is present throughout the medieval period
r-scientist 13th discovered that a
Roger centur crystal with a curved in Europe. Spectacles may have been
Bacon, surface can help the initially invented in Italy at the end of
elderly to read. the thirteenth century. ... In this
Mounted in a holder, painting, a Cardinal is seen writing and
such a lens is simply
a small magnifying
wearing a pair of riveted spectacles.
glass. The
philosopher-scientist
Roger Bacon refers
to the use of a lens
in a text of 1268. At
this time it would be
 shaped and
smoothed from a
lump of quartz.

Soon (probably in
Florence during the
1280s) the idea
evolves of placing
two lenses in a
frame which can be
held in front of the
eyes. It is a natural
next step to perch
this frame on the
nose. Spectacles,
hinged at the centre
to grip the nose,
appear quite
frequently in
paintings of the
15th century.

10. Hand Chinese, 14th - portable guns are Handgun, any firearm small enough to
guns 17th developed shortly
and century after the first
be held in one hand when fired. It
developed cannons. When first usually fires a single projectile or bullet,
in china mentioned, in the and additional ammunition may be
also 1360s, such a gun is available in a revolving mechanism or
like a small version magazine. Handguns may be used
of a cannon. A metal
tube, up to a foot
for target shooting, hunting small game,
long, is attached to or personal self-defense.
the end of a pole
about six feet in
length - an early
and very basic
version of the barrel
and stock of a rifle.

The gunner has to

apply a glowing coal
or a red-hot wire to
a touchhole in the
loaded barrel, and
then somehow get
far enough away
from the explosion.
There is clearly not
much opportunity
for rapid aiming.
Most such weapons
are probably fired
by two men, or are
carried to a new
position and fixed
there before being
loaded and ignited
by one.

*NOTE: You can use another sheet/s for your answers.