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...
Colorado Unit Writing Project
Simple Machines
Planning an elementary science unit has never been simpler! These twelve lessons guide young scientists through an exploration of simple machines and their many uses in the real world before asking them to apply their learning in the...
Museum of Science
Water Balloon Catapult
Fire away! Using a couple of milk jugs, a dowel rod, and a yardstick, individuals build catapults to throw water balloons. Learners notice that the catapult is a simple machine. By making a target, the class has a chance to refine their...
Physics Classroom
Torque-ing About Rotation
Let's talk torque! Science scholars evaluate experimental setups during an interactive from the Rotation and Balance series. Individuals calculate the torque of differently arranged weights to determine the effect they have on a balanced...
Physics Classroom
Getting a Handle on Torque
Do your young physicists get a little unbalanced when it comes to talking about torque? Scholars examine the effects of weight and distance on a balanced system with a simple interactive from the Rotation and Balance series. The resource...
PBS
Helping Hand
Reach out and grab something. Given the task of picking up objects at least two feet away, pupils design and build a grabber. The last activity in a series of five challenges requires learners to use information about fulcrums and levers.
DiscoverE
Helping Hand
Sometimes we all need a helping hand. Scholars get together to lend a hand in creating an assistive device that must be able to grab a hard-to-reach object. Now that's some help we could all use!
Cornell University
Catapult
Studying levers couldn't be more exciting! Learners build their own catapults and test the results as they make adjustments to the fulcrum. They compete against other groups to create the most accurate apparatus.
Cornell University
Catapults
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome.
CK-12 Foundation
Standard Form of Linear Equations: Seesaw
Don't hem and haw, learn about equations using a seesaw. An easy-to-use interactive has pupils move a seesaw on a coordinate plane to investigate the standard form of a linear equation. By completing a set of challenge questions, they...
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...
Science Companion
Simple Machines Design Project
Make your work as a teacher a little easier with a physical science project on simple machines. After introducing young scientists to these devices and identifying their different uses around the school, this project engages children in...
Broward County Public Schools
Force and Motion
Get the ball rolling with this upper-elementary science unit on forces and motion. Offering over three weeks of physical science lessons, this resource is a great way to engage the class in learning about simple machines, friction, the...
Exploratorium
Take It From the Top
Experiment with the center of gravity by stacking blocks in a way that appears to defy its force. This is a fascinating demonstration that you can use when teaching about gravity, forces, or balance.
Scholastic
Study Jams! Simple Machines
Here is a tri-faceted resource that has a slide show, a quiz, and a vocabulary list that you can use to teach simple machines. Six machines are introduced: wheels and axles, planes, levers, pulleys, wedges, and screws. Slides contain...
Curated OER
Can a Mouse Lift an Elephant?
Read Just a Little Bit, by Ann Tompert as an introduction to levers. Discuss playground seesaws and then turn learners loose to experiment with the placement of a fulcrum. Their goal is to determine where to place it in order to lift ten...
Curated OER
Balanced Forces
Examples and practice questions will help real-life understanding of the Principle of Moments concept. These great slides define the types of levers and pivots, and then give examples of the typical seesaw situations that help the...
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
Student Exploration: Levers
In this earthquake exploration worksheet, students complete 2 prior knowledge questions, then use "Levers Gizmo" to conduct several activities, completing short answer questions when finished.
Curated OER
Inverse (Indirect) Machines
Young scholars observe relationships between quantities. Students complete activities for three different classes of levers. In groups, young scholars build each type of lever. Students identify levers in their daily surroundings. Young...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students investigate simple machines. In this simple machines lesson, students construct two simple machines and describe what they do. Students show that simple changes help machines do work with less effort. Students use a paper clip...
Curated OER
Just a Little Bit of Effort: Exploring Levers
Students build models of types of levers. In this simple machines lesson, students use dowels and modified wooden rulers to build different types of levers. They compete to create the most efficient lever in the class.
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Odd Machines
Students recognize and identify common objects that can be used as a lever. For this simple machines lesson, students experiment with materials to design and construct a machine that uses a lever. Students also design and build a catapult.