In this first lesson, you will learn what technology is, the types of technology, professions related to basic technology and the importance of technology. You will also learn about the products of technology we make use of at home, school and in industries.The term technology is derived from the Greek words ‘techne’ and ‘logia’ meaning systematic treatment of art craft or techniques. Many years ago, there were no houses, cars, bridges, aircrafts, electrical appliances like televisions, computers, air conditioners, electric cookers and so on. People lived in caves and used tools cut out from stones and wood to kill animals for food and clothing. They had no metal tool to make their work easier, they were said to be “Technologically Primitive”.As time passed, people began to discover that they can actually live more comfortable with less stress. They began to develop raw materials that has been provided by nature, turning them into simple tools, tame some animals not only for food but also for transportation and farming. Life was easier than what it used to be. Years later, many discoveries were made like the burning of coal and oil to generate energy for machines and so on.

Safety means protection from danger or injury. Safety guidelines are the rules to be followed in order to reduce or eliminate danger or injury. The safety of road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are highly important given the number of road accidents on roads and highways. Great importance also needs to be placed on the safety of students and their instructors in workshops in order to prevent accidents.Accident is an unexpected event with negative consequences occurring without the intention of the one suffering the consequences. Therefore, we must know and carry out the safety guidelines in different areas of our lives to stay safe from injury or even being killed. In this lesson, we will be talking about safety guidelines for road users. Road users includes: pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and vehicle passengers.

Safety is freedom from danger. It is protection from risk of harm or injury. It is also protection against damage to machines, tools as well as the prevention or removal of factors that can lead to accident. Safety must be ensured in the workshop.Great importance needs to be placed on the safety of students and their instructors in workshops in order to prevent accidents.Workshop safety is protection from risk of harm or injury to humans or damage to machines and tools in the workshop.

Now that you have been well-equipped with safety techniques in the Basic Technology workshop, let us give attention to some of the materials you will be making use of at the workshop. In this chapter, you will learn about what wood is, the types of wood there are, the parts of a tree and the functions of the internal structure of wood.

By now you should be aware of wood, the types of wood, structure of wood, forms of wood and some samples of wood. In this chapter, you will learn some things about metals. You will learn about what metals are, classification of metals, properties of metals, the different forms of metals, alloys, the importance of alloys, ceramics, classes of ceramics, glass and the difference between glass and ceramics.

Buildings are a type of structure erected with wood, bricks or blocks on floors for accommodation purposes. Buildings shelters man from harsh weathers and provides comfort and security. In the olden days, people lived in huts built with mud and covered with leaves, but today the story is different as a result of the major role technology is playing.

Now that you are well-acquainted with building materials and construction, let us give attention to how you can use a combination of lines to carry out simple constructions of plane figures.Technical drawing is an unspoken language used by technical personnel to pass information or convey ideas relating to their professions. It is an art of representing objects, machines or structures by the use of lines and technical symbols.

Technical drawing is normally carried out by using the drawing board, drawing paper and the appropriate equipment and materials. Like Mathematics, technical drawing can only be perfected through constant practice and not by reading textbooks over and over again.This chapter discusses the procedures that should be followed by draftsmen in the presentation of the designer’s ideas on paper. Since the drawings are transferable from one part of the world to another, the procedures should be the same for all draftsmen all over the world. The mastery of these procedures is essential if the draftsman is to produce neat, clear and precise drawings, which will convey the designer’s ideas accurately.

Sometimes, we might desire to communicate the picture of an imaginary object that is yet to be designed, that does not really exist, or whose photograph we cannot easily take. In that case, we sketch a picture of the object in a process known as freehand sketching. It is a very convenient way of communicating ideas from person to another. Sketching only requires the use of pencil and paper.

In an engineering workshop, there are different classes of tools put to good use for fabrication of both wood and metalwork. In this chapter, you will be exposed to woodwork hand tools. These tools will include measuring, setting-out, marking-out and driving tools and their uses.

One different set of hand tools in engineering workshop are metalwork hand tools. It is interesting to note that some of the tools and devices that will be discussed in this chapter have been mentioned in the previous chapter.Tools are appliances employed to do different kinds of jobs in the bench-fitting workshop. Hand tools are tools used by the metal worker to cut, drive, mark or measure any metal workpiece. It is essential that the hand tools should be kept in a safe, clean and usable condition all the time. The metal worker should be able to choose the correct hand tool needed for any metal work operation. It is also important that hand tools should not be thrown on the ground where they could cause an injury.In this chapter, you are going to learn about what metalwork hand tools are, the measuring tools, marking out tools, cutting tools, driving tools, the classes and types of metalwork hand tools and their uses.

In this chapter, you are going to learn about how to care and maintain these metalwork hand tools. You will discover what a lubricant is, types of lubricants and the basic reason for applying lubricants to machines and tools.To prolong the lifespan of work tools and make work easy, attention must be paid to the care and maintenance of work tools.

In the last lesson you learned about how to care for metalwork hand tools. In this lesson however you are going to learn about a general approach to maintenance, the different types of maintenance and how to carry out routine maintenance on machines. To prolong the lifespan of work tools and make work easy and effective, the hand tools and machines must be maintained (serviced) regularly.