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...

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...

Your introductory physical science class will be energized by this PowerPoint. They will be able to define energy, work, and power. They will be able to perform calculations for kinetic and potential energy. They will be able to describe...

Instructions for series of six activites, a reading of scientific literature, and a choice of six assessments await you in this physics resource. Well-written plans guide you in guiding your pupils to experiment with levers, pulleys,...

If you're going to build a machine, you might as well make it interesting and amusing. A set of eight lessons and activities introduces simple machines using Rube Goldberg machines. A culminating project challenges techies to create and...

Motion 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,...

It's rare for even 40 percent of test takers to pass the AP Physics 1 exam. Improve those odds for young scientists with the help of actual free response questions covering topics from free body diagrams to velocity. The College Board...

Who says playing around in class is a bad idea? Precocious physicists engage in building mechanisms that include cams, gears, pulleys, and levers using an interactive lesson. After completing toy tutorials about each topic, users build a...

Can you easily lift more than your own weight? With a pulley system, almost anyone can manage this challenge. Scholars adjust the mechanical advantage (number of pulleys), weight of object being lifted, and the length of rope pulled. The...

Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.

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...

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. 

What goes up does not always come down. Working in teams of two or three, classmates design and build a working elevator. The elevator must be able to safely deliver a car to any level of a parking structure. In order to assist with the...

Stretch, twitch, and jerk with a simple machines science activity. Three distinct exercises to explore pulleys, levers, gears, and how they are used daily in our world.

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...

Nepalese farmers are faced with long, arduous journeys to sell their crops (including tomatoes) to the local markets at the bottom of the mountains. With this in mind, your young engineers will be challenged to build a model that can...

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...

Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics from making...

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...

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...

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...

An aerospace engineer and some preteens have a virtual conversation about pulleys. This modern video uses the raising and lowering of the Space Shuttle to show that pulleys can be used to lift very large weights. Show this video to your...