What If It Disappeared?
Imagine waking up tomorrow and one ordinary thing is completely gone from the world. What would happen next?
Imagine waking up tomorrow and one ordinary thing is completely gone. Everywhere. For one whole year. Your challenge: imagine the problems, invent a solution, and tell the story.
Pick Something Ordinary
Choose one everyday object or system people usually ignore—like a zipper, traffic light, backpack, toilet, refrigerator, key, pencil, or Wi-Fi. Pick something that makes you wonder: Wait… what would happen if we didn’t have that?
Now It’s Gone
Imagine it disappears tonight at midnight—and nobody can make another one for a year. Describe at least two specific problems people would face on the first day. Make your reader picture what would happen.
How Would People Adapt?
After a few weeks, people would start changing their habits. Explain how people might solve the problem or do things differently without the missing object.
Invent a Replacement
Create a new invention that solves the same problem—but you cannot just remake the original object. Give your invention a name and explain how it works.
What to Write in the Comments
Your comment should include:
- what disappeared and why you chose it
- two problems it would cause
- how people would adapt
- your replacement invention
- whether it was more important than you first thought, and why
Write about 8–12 complete sentences.
13 Responses
If glasses disappeared for one thing the first thing people would notice is not as many people have on glasses very often. I chose glasses because its a very important everyday item that people need. One problem it would cause is people not being able to see from afar and having difficulties seeing. Another problem that I think is very important is school. Being in a classroom for 7 hours straight and not being able to see and take notes is torture. People would probably adapt by wearing contacts. My replacement invention is a magnifying glass but instead of seeing from close. You´d see from afar, its like a glasses lens but a big one. This was more important then my first idea because being able to see also creates a safer environment.
If traffic lights disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is,more car accidents.I chose the traffic lights because people use them everyday and they help prevent people getting hurt.Two things that can happen if they aren’t here are people not following the law and running a stop light and people being hit by cars.People wouldn’t adapt fast enough because people everyday drive to fast and don’t pay pay attention.My replacement invention is a traffic light with a camera so anybody that goes past the speed limit it automatically take a picture of the car the people in it and the license plate and email them a ticket.It also has a light stays on green for 10 seconds to let one person go and if the person goes before the 10 seconds is over it automatically changes to red and makes the next person wait until its their turn to go.the invention is more important than when I first thought because I thought it wouldn’t work as a replacement and now I realize that it would work because the way people drive everyday it can help running lights,people crossing the cross walk,accidents.It shows people that it isn’t fun to get a ticket.It also prevents people get hurt,cars being damaged and hospital bills.
I chose to write about refrigerators because they are used all the time. If every fridge disappeared for one year, People would notice all of the food on the ground and there wouldn’t be a fridge in its place. Food would go old and we would have no cold drinks. Family’s would barely have food that wouldn’t be rotten. Instead of putting everything in the fridge, people would resort to putting things in the freezer to let food last longer. People would have to buy new freezers to replace the refrigerators. Every time someone was hungry they would have to wait for the food to defrost. After a few months someone could invent a defroster that can defrost things very fast so people wouldn’t have to wait for the food to defrost. Companies could make their food adapt to being frozen instead of just being chilled so the freezers wouldn’t effect the food.
If animals disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is that their pets or just random wild animals are gone. The birds? Gone. Rats? Gone. Dogs and cats? Gone. Every animal is gone. People would immediately get confused, and two problems it would cause, is that crops would die. Without bees and butterflies and other animal pollinators our crops would die, but there are some crops that don’t need animals. And many life-saving drugs rely on animal compounds. And I don’t think humans could even adapt to this at all because animals are extremely important and some people don’t even realize that until it’s too late. And a invention that’s kinda weird and messed up is that people that are dying of old age or they are just dying because of some other reason, they could wait until death and people take their bodies and make food out of them and sell them to people. You might get diseases from this but it’s better than nothing. And like first they would have to call the people that do this and then wait until death and yeah. But everyone would perish because like WE NEED ANIMALS TO SURVIVE!!! And today a lot of animals are going extinct, and that’s mainly because of humans, and SOME people don’t even CARE AT ALL. But they will care when the world is falling apart, I mean it kinda already is but people just don’t notice that. And the reason I chose this option is to make people aware of what’s happening and it will get worse over time. And animals are really important and I always thought animals were important and the reason animals are important is that they pollinate our plants and the decomposers and scavengers break down dead organic matter to return vital nutrients to the soil. And there are A LOT OF REASONS why animals are important and that’s a lot and I’m too lazy so I’m not doing all that and yeah. :3
If walls were gone then we would be in a space with unlimited space and no privacy. First, we wouldn’t think about it much and just shrug our shoulders and keep on with our day.Then, we would most likely eventually need some privacy and some space to ourselves. Second, we would go slowly crazy because everyone is so close to each other nobody has some privacy no one has space to themselves. Third, then it will probally get either cold or hot and we will not have any shelter to shield ourselves from the weather. Fourth, it will rain and we have nothing to shelter ourselves, we have no homes, we have no space and then we finally go crazy. Lastly we slowly get used to not having walls and find another way to have shelter.
If books disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is that if they went to a library there wouldn’t be a single book in sight. This goes the same for classrooms, everyone our age goes to school and things like our science books, notebooks, and math books would all be gone. We would have no idea why and wonder where they all went, and if you wanted to read a normal book for fun, you wouldn’t be able to. This would be a big problem for everyone who wants to read, since they wont have books anymore. It would also be a big problem for library’s and school’s because books are a massive part of them. But this doesn’t just cause a problem with reading, this would make tons of history just be gone with no traces of it anywhere. This would be a huge problem because all of that history would just be lost, and it’s important for us to keep track of history and not lose it. We would adapt from all of this by not writing in books anymore and just instead writing in something else, for example something new like a digital book that is advanced and the pages are on a screen instead, which will have a lot of downsides, but will also have a lot of upsides.
If regular toothbrushes disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is that some peoples teeth are still clean.I chose this because people could just get a Electric toothbrushes instead of a regular toothbrush. A problem that it could cause is that people could not be able to use it properly. Another reason is that people could not be able to buy that type of toothbrush.People would then adapt to the new type of toothbrush and start using it every day.There replacement invention would be the electric toothbrush. My reason is because people’s breath might stank.It is important because people still need to brush their teeth or their breath will stink.
If erasers disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is all the mistakes they make. I chose this because if all the erasers in the world were gone, then we couldn’t redo something and we would see how many mistakes we actually make.
Two problems that it would cause is: 1, since we can’t erase, every time we made a mistake, like a grammar error, we would have to get a whole new sheet of paper. That would cause much more paper to be used and that’s more trees that are cut down. 2, every mark an artist makes on a drawing, painting, or art piece, would have to be final.
People would probably adapt by using things similar to erasers, like white-out and tape.
My replacement invention would be a special soft rubber that is like an eraser but not exactly. It would erase pencil marks like a regular eraser.
I think it’s important because if erasers were gone, mistakes would be in-erasable.
if my friend disappears for one year, the first thing I will do is spend more time with my family and have fun with them go to the lake and eat food. and just be myself with them they don’t judge me they make me feel safe they are kind .
If refrigerators disappeared for one year, the first thing people would notice is that produce food would go rotten and food would be scattered all over the ground. And since refrigerators are used daily most people would have to buy a freezer or something so that their food or cold drinks can last longer and be organized. But since they will use a freezer they will have to wait a while so that their food would defrost. After a few months they will probably get used to eating cold food. A problem that will cause it is that freezers are a bit too expensive and most people wont buy them or people cant afford them. Another problem it will cause is that people would have to eat cold, food and will get bored of eating it daily. They also will probably not adapt to the feeling that they will have to live without using a refrigerator and have to live to the fact they have to use a freezer.
If plants were to disappear for a year, the whole world would collapse because plants include trees, and trees produce air; so if trees vanished, the air would too, and people cannot live without air. Plants also produce food, so within two weeks of their disappearance, people and animals would begin to die out, as animals need the natural world to survive. Humans would gradually disappear as well; drinking water and food supplies would run out, and factories would fall into ruin. Even if plants aren’t the absolute center of everything, they have a massive impact on humanity and the animal kingdom.
If Wi-Fi were to disappear for a year, the first thing people would notice is how difficult it is to access the internet. I picked Wi-Fi because people use it every day for school, games, videos, and to talk to people. One problem would be that students would struggle to do their homework online at home. Another issue is that people would find it hard to watch shows or play online games. In a few weeks people are going to start using more books, DVDs and other things that don’t need Wi-Fi. Some people may also use data on their phone when they really need the internet. I would create something called the **Net Box**. The Net Box connects devices to Wiffi with a special signal.
If books were to disappear for a year, the first thing people would notice upon visiting a library is that there wouldn’t be a single book to be found. The same would happen in classrooms: students our age attend school, and items like science textbooks, notebooks, and math books would vanish. We would have no idea why and would wonder where they had gone. If we wanted to read a book for pleasure, we wouldn’t be able to. This would be a major problem for anyone who enjoys reading, as they would be left without books. It would also be a significant issue for libraries and schools, given that books are a fundamental part of them. However, this would affect more than just reading; it would cause a vast amount of history to disappear without a trace. This would be a critical problem because all that history would be lost, and it is important that we preserve it rather than lose it. We would adapt to this situation by moving away from writing in physical books and opting for a different format—such as an advanced digital book with on-screen pages. This approach would have both disadvantages and advantages.