Table of Contents
Guide
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Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com
Reading Adviser: Marla Conn, MS, Ed, Literacy Specialist, Read-Ability, Inc.
Photo Credits: Adam Hellebuyck and Michael Medvinsky/Cover, 1, 5, 11, 17, 21, 22; Shadowman39/flickr, 7, 9, 23;
Classical Numismatic Group, Inc./Wikimedia, 13; Oleg Troino/Shutterstock.com, 15; Bananinha God/
flickr, 16; WONGIMAM/Shutterstock.com, 19; Frdric BISSON/flickr, 25; National Archives Catalog/
ARC ID. 196328/ Series: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, 1882 1962, 27; AlesiaKan/
Shutterstock.com, 29
Graphic Element Credits: Ohn Mar/Shutterstock.com, back cover, multiple interior pages; Dmitrieva Katerina/
Shutterstock.com, back cover, multiple interior pages; advent/Shutterstock.com, back cover, front cover, multiple interior
pages; Visual Generation/Shutterstock.com, multiple interior pages; anfisa focusova/Shutterstock.com, front cover,
multiple interior pages; Babich Alexander/Shutterstock.com, back cover, front cover, multiple interior pages;
Copyright 2019 by Cherry Lake Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hellebuyck, Adam, author. | Medvinsky, Michael, author.
Title: Using tools and building a city in Minecraft: Technology / by Adam Hellebuyck and
Michael Medvinsky.
Description: Ann Arbor : Cherry Lake Publishing, [2019] | Series: Minecraft
and STEAM | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018035559| ISBN 9781534143135 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781534140899 (pdf) | ISBN 9781534139695 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781534142091
(hosted ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Municipal engineering--Data processing--Juvenile literature.
| Cities and towns--Computer simulation--Juvenile literature. | Minecraft
(Game)--Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC TD160 .H45 2019 | DDC 794.8/5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018035559
Printed in the United States of America
Corporate Graphics
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
You use technology every day. Many people do not realize
how much technology is needed to design and build all the
items we use in our daily lives. The fork or spoon you eat
with, the transportation you take to school, and the shoes
on your feet were all made using different technologies and
innovations . Innovations arise when there are problems that
need to be solved. Technology is also important for plan
ning and building cities. Like in the real world, you will use
different technologies to build your own Minecraft city.
Think about creating a Minecraft city. What would you build? What tools
and resources would you need?
CHAPTER ONE
Tools:
Building a City
You have probably used tools in your life to solve a problem.
For example, if you need to write something down, you may use
a pencil tool to do it. Tools play a huge role in Minecraft . You use
them to chop down trees, dig in the ground, prepare the soil for
planting, mine for materials, defend yourself, and create new
buildings. In order to build a city, you have to use a wide range
of tools.
Tools in both the real world and in Minecraft are made using
different materials. In Minecraft , you may start building tools
like shovels, pickaxes, or swordsout of wood. These wooden
tools are slow and break quickly. You can build stronger tools
out of stone and even stronger ones out of gold and iron. But the
strongest tools in Minecraft are made out of diamonds. The
properties of these tools in Minecraft match those in the real
world.
Gold ore is almost as hard to find as diamonds in Minecraft .
Most tools in the real world are made of some type of metal.
Claw hammers, one of the most common household hammers,
are typically made with specially treated steel and wood. But
sometimes metal tools are not strong enough to do certain jobs.
For instance, construction workers wouldnt use a gold saw to
cut through wood or metal. In these cases, people use tools that
are made of stronger materials like diamonds. Diamonds are
commonly incorporated into machines and tools like cutting
blades and drills. Diamonds are also used in dentistry, speakers,
and computers!
You wont find many tools made completely out of diamonds
in either the real world or in Minecraft . In Minecraft , diamonds
are extremely rare and hard to find. This is also somewhat true
People have been using tools to solve problems since the
beginning of time. Some of the first tools were made out of
wood, stone, and obsidian, which were easier to sharpen.
After about 2 million years, humans started using tools made
out of soft metals, like copper. These early tools helped
humans hunt larger animals. Later, when humans figured
out how to pull iron out of rocks, they started using iron
tools. These iron tools were much stronger than stone or
copper tools.
When making tools, you have to be cautious of how many resources you
are using.
in the real world. Diamonds are expensive in the real world, for
the most part, because of how rare it is to find one in nature. In
Minecraft , there isnt money. So, the value of an item like a
diamond is measured by the difficulty of finding it. In the real
world, diamonds can be artificially made through a special
process using hot temperatures and extreme pressures. But in
Minecraft , there is no way to create new diamonds.
People have to balance the cost of a tool with how strong
they want it to be. People who build and use tools have to make
a decision. Do they want strong tools that are expensive but last
a long time? Or do they want cheaper tools that arent as strong
and need to be replaced more often? You may have experienced
this same problem in Minecraft : how should you use the limited
number of diamonds you have? Do you build diamond swords
and armor? Do you build diamond pickaxes and shovels? You
have to think about what makes the most sense when building
your city.
When mining for diamonds, make sure to have an iron or diamond pickaxe.
SCIENCE
You may have built tools in Minecraft using gold bars.
Minecraft tools made from gold bars are powerful but
break quickly. The designers of Minecraft made gold tools
like this to show how unique gold is as a metal. In the real
world, gold tools may be pretty to look at, but they arent
useful. Gold is a soft and malleable metal. Any tool made
out of gold in the real world, like a pickaxe, would quickly
lose its sharpness and shape. Gold is a popular metal for
other reasons. Unlike other metals, like copper or iron, gold
does not tarnish or rust. This is because it does not react to
elements like oxygen. Because of this, making jewelry out of
gold became popular.
The best tools are made out of hard metals. But hard metals
are difficult to mold into new shapes. Scientists have prac
ticed combining metals with other metals or elements to
create stronger metals. The resulting metal is called an
alloy .
Gold has also been used as currency, or money, for over 2,700 years!
CHAPTER TWO
Cartography:
Mapping Out the City
Now that you know about the tools used to build cities, you
need to think about how you will organize the city in Minecraft .