Exercises: Comparing the three systems

Classify each system as artisanal, industrial or automated, and explain the role of the person in each one: a backstrap loom in a Zapotec community in Oaxaca; an assembly line at a car plant in Guanajuato; a greenhouse whose watering turns on by itself when a sensor detects dry soil.

Order these three systems by the role of people, from the most direct control of the process to the least: a robotic arm that welds car bodies with no direct intervention; a polished clay pottery workshop; a line assembly where each operator fits a single part. Explain what «supervising» means in the system with the least direct control.

The diagram compares three systems that produce tortillas. Calculate how many hours each one needs to produce 300 kg and write down the results. Then describe how the role of people changes from one system to another and what effect that change has on the community's economy.

The pressure cooker relies on a piece of scientific knowledge: at higher pressure, water boils at a higher temperature and food cooks faster. Explain with this example how scientific knowledge turns into a technical product, and name another everyday product that also comes from a piece of scientific knowledge, stating which one it is.