Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Power of Mechanical Advantage

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about the mechanical advantage offered by pulleys in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity's mechatronic presentation, they learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Mechanical Advantage

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Actual and ideal mechanical advantage, how to calculate them and the mechanical advantage of different types of machines.
Unit Plan
Other

Mechanical Systems

For Students 5th - 8th
A collection of resources on how humans use machines and tools to meet their needs. Covers simple and complex machines, subsystems that transfer forces, mechanical advantage, speed ratio, the effect of friction, efficiency, the science...
Handout
Ohio State University

Ohio State Univ.: Simple Machines & Mechanical Advantage [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This site details how simple machines create a mechanical advantage for humans. Levers, theoretical mechanical advantage, actual mechanical advantage, and pulley systems are discussed.
Handout
Integrated Publishing

Integrated Publishing: Force and Mechanical Advantage

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains the relationship between force and mechanical advantage with diagrams, examples and calculations.
Handout
Integrated Publishing

Integrated Publishing: How Mechanical Advantage Is Used

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes how pulley systems are used in the real world, including the role of the mechanical advantage in selecting the proper pulley system.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Comparing Mechanical Advantage and Efficiency of Pulleys

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars determine the mechanical advantage of three pulley set-ups. Then they measure the work input and output to calculate the efficiency. Finally, students determine the relationship between the mechanical advantage and the...
Handout
Integrated Publishing

Integrated Publishing: Pulley Mechanical Advantage

For Students 9th - 10th
Good illustrations and explanations for finding the mechanical advantage of pulley systems.
Handout
Integrated Publishing

Integrated Publishing: Mechanical Advantage

For Students 9th - 10th
Good descriptions and diagrams to help explain the mechanical advantage of machines. Includes sample calculations of this quantity.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Simple Machines

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through a five-lesson series with five hands-on activities, students are introduced to six simple machines - inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel-and-axle - as well as compound machines, which are combinations of two or...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tools and Equipment, Part I

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through a series of activities, students discover that the concept of mechanical advantage describes reality fairly well. They act as engineers creating a design for a ramp at a construction site by measuring four different inclined...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Machines and Tools, Part Ii

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students gain first-hand experience with the mechanical advantage of pulleys. Students are given the challenge of helping save a whale by moving it from an aquarium back to its natural habitat into the ocean. They set...
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Simple Machines

For Students 11th - 12th
From a chapter on Statics and Torque in a Physics textbook. This section of the chapter discusses the different types of simple machines and how to calculate their mechanical advantage. Includes questions, problems and exercises.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Just Plane Simple

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This instructional activity introduces students to three of the six simple machines used by many engineers. These machines include the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw. In general, engineers use the inclined plane to lift heavy...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Simple Machines From Pyramids to Skyscrapers

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier, and which people have used to provide mechanical advantage for thousands of years. Students learn about the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane,...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Powerful Pulleys

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about the simple machine called a pulley. They learn how a pulley can be used to change the direction of applied forces and move/lift extremely heavy objects, and the...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Screw

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What a screw is, how it works and its mechanical advantage.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Wedge

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What a wedge is and its mechanical advantage, how it changes force to make work easier.
Handout
Integrated Publishing

Integrated Publishing: The Inclined Plane and the Wedge

For Students 9th - 10th
Outlines the wedge and inclined plane, including their uses in everyday life and their mechanical advantages.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Levers: How the Human Body Uses Them to Its Advantage

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will apply the concept of levers to the human body and build all three classes of levers within a musculoskeletal context. They will be shown how the musculoskeletal system is a system of levers and one example of each type of...
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Statics and Torque: Simple Machines

For Students 11th - 12th
By the end of this section, you will be able to describe different simple machines and to calculate the mechanical advantage.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Wide World of Gears

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In an interactive and game-like manner, students learn about the mechanical advantage that is offered by gears. By virtue of the activity's mechatronics presentation, students learn to study a mechanical system as a dynamic system under...
Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: See Saw

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] How does a See Saw allow you to "lift" someone who is heavier than you? This module helps students understand about torque and mechanical advantage.
Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Block and Tackle

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A video module where students learn about the relationship between force, work, energy, and mechanical advantage using a simple machine.

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