Purdue University
Simple Machines – Dog Gone It!
How can people use simple machines to solve real-world STEM problems? Learn about simple machines using a hands-on, project-based learning activity. First, pupils investigate and evaluate simple machines. Then, they receive a task that...
Purdue University
Simple Machines
What's the best way to use a simple machine to solve a real-world problem? Scholars construct their own simple and complex machines to explore the concepts of work and force. They discuss examples of simple machines they have found in...
Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg Machines
Use humor to study simple machines! An engaging set of nine lessons allows learners to explore simple machines, kinetic, and potential energy as they work through cartoon renditions inspired by Rube Goldberg. Choose one or multiple...
Teach Engineering
Design and Build a Rube Goldberg
Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...
Teach Engineering
The Magician's Catapult
Class members work in pairs to build a catapult to launch a grape a given distance. The catapult project, a compound machine, reinforces pupils' understanding of simple machines.
NASA
Heavy Lifting
Astronauts need a way to lift heavy objects. Pupils design and build a crane out of cardboard and determine ways to improve their cranes based upon the outcomes of testing.
Agriculture in the Classroom
Six Kinds Do It All
Teach young engineers that all machines, no matter how complicated or complex, are made up of just six simple devices with this hands-on physical science lesson. Using the included templates, students first create paper models of...
Cherokee County Schools
Simple Machines Project
The choice is simple: create a PowerPoint presentation, write a book, or invent a compound machine. Whichever project your young scientists choose, they will be engaged in creatively demonstrating their knowledge of simple machines and...
Curated OER
Simple Machines Worksheet
Simplify students' lives with this physical science note-taking guide. From inclined planes to moveable pulleys, this resource supports young scientists with defining each type of simple machine while identifying their mechanical...
Teach Engineering
Rube Goldberg and the Meaning of Machines
A Rube Goldberg machine does not really look like it would make work easier. Introduce your class to Rube Goldberg with a resource that shows how his inventions make simple tasks harder to complete.
Teach Engineering
Not So Simple
Compound machines, nothing more than a combination of simple machines working together, are the focus of an activity that asks class members to use the provided information to take a look at the way innovators combine simple machines to...
Teach Engineering
Levers that Lift
Introduce your class to to the remaining three simple machines-- the lever, pulley, and the wheel-and-axle with a plan that includes the three different types of levers in the discussion of levers. The lesson plan continues with the...
Curated OER
Las Maquinas y Nosotros: Machines and Us
Second graders explain the relationship between energy and work. In this technology instructional activity, 2nd graders describe the different uses of machines in their everyday lives. They record observations and data in their science...
Curated OER
Brown Paper Bag Simple Machine
Students explore simple machines. In this simple machines science instructional activity, students work with a partner to identify what kind of simple machine is represented by a variety of household objects placed in paper bags. ...
Curated OER
Designing Machines
Students explore simple and compound machines. In groups of four students, they design a compound machine using K'NEX that has a stated purpose and consists of at least two simple machines.
Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX)
Use Simple Machines to Help Stuart Little
Third graders study six simple machines while working in expert groups. They use the information from the research to decide which simple machine the Littles could use to move a package. They demonstrate how their simple machine works in...
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Odd Machines
Students explore simple machines. In this physical science lesson, students identify six simple machines, illustrate each and identify how these machines function or can be combined to create a compound machine.
Curated OER
Snow Day
Eighth graders work in small groups to design and build a snow remover while looking at a snow design brief. They combine 2 or more simple machines to form a compound machine following the design brief in order to meet the required...
Curated OER
Ins and Outs of Simple Machines
Young scholars explore the ins and outs of simple machines. They discover the various roles of simple machines, who uses them, where they can be found and how they actually work. Students create a compound machine using simple machines.
Curated OER
Mechanical Advantage and Simple Machines
Middle schoolers investigate simple machines. They calculate the work done by simple machines and compare the force or direction of force applied. They calculate mechanical advantage and efficiency of simple machines and identify...
Curated OER
Wheels, Gears, and Compound Machines
Fifth graders read selected pages from their science text and explain forces affected by wheels and axles. They read and discover that gears transfer forces and that gear combinations relate to compound machines.
Curated OER
Creating a Television Commercial
Fifth graders discuss commercials they remember seeing, and reasons they remember them. They write and perform their own television commercials designed to "sell" a compound machine.