New ReviewSimple doesn't mean useless. Individuals learn how simple machines benefit the user by changing the amount of effort. A seven-lesson unit begins with an overview of simple machines and then incorporates activities that allow the user to...

New ReviewWhat'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...

New ReviewHow 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...

New ReviewMotion is the focus of ten hands-on activities that challenge scholars to build machines invented by Leonardo da Vinci. Following several steps, small groups work collaboratively to recreate machines including levers, pulleys, wheels,...

Wheel the resource right into your classroom. Young mathematicians use given dimensions of a Ferris wheel to write a height versus time function. They use their functions to answer a set of questions about the Ferris wheel.

When it's time to upgrade to bigger wheels and tires, is your class up to the challenge? Aspiring automotive technologists create and use a formula to calculate the diameter of a tire and wheel assembly in an upbeat career and technology...

Record-setting cars need specially made tires. Young engineers watch a video in the Real Engineering series to learn about designing tires. Along the way, they study acceleration, inertia, and angular velocity.

Which way do I turn the wheel again? Examine the physics behind backing up in a short, yet fun video. The narrator compares stable versus unstable systems, which are applied to driving forward or driving backward. Things get even more...

Determine the location of a point on a moving wheel. The task challenges groups to determine the horizontal and vertical locations of a point on the edge of wheel that is moving. Teams first determine a function that will model the...

Perform an activity on performance testing with a lesson focused on the purpose of wheel bearings on skateboards. Learners conduct performance testing on a skateboard to collect and interpret data.

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.

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...

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...

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

Show your students how to make their work easier. The first lesson in a series of 10 introduces the class to work and the way simple machines can be make work easier. The simple machines scholars can find in everyday items are inclined...

What would you be if you were attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis? In this fourth presentation that covers work and simple machines, young physicists look at Newtons and Joules as well as...

Wheels go around is the theme of the plethora of activities to aid in the language fluency of your scholars in this unit of ESL lessons. Learners can take part in a grand conversation focused on wheels, make their own steering wheel,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Planning a unit on simple machines? Save some time and energy with this collection of lessons and activities that explores how these devices are used in the real world to make life a little easier. 

Trying to plan a physical science unit on forces and motion? Make your work a little easier with this comprehensive collection of simple machines resources. Offering a wide variety worksheets, activities, and projects, these materials...

Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion, and...