Lesson Plan
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Share the Day's Discoveries

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Share and discuss ideas the students have about ramps and rolling objects.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Share the Day's Discoveries

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Discuss classroom explorations and discoveries about ramps.
Activity
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Explore and Play: Toy Sleds

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students experiment with different materials and objects to make a sled that will slide down the ramps.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Simple Machines (Grades 1 To12)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this lesson plan students start by trying to open a paint can with their bare hands. Eventually, they will use a lever to open it. Various activities are used to enforce different simple machines.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Splash, Pop, Fizz: Rube Goldberg Machines

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Refreshed with an understanding of the six simple machines; screw, wedge, pully, incline plane, wheel and axle, and lever, student groups receive materials and an allotted amount of time to act as mechanical engineers to design and...
Activity
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Things to Do at Home

For Students 9th - 10th
Families can come together through games designed to make history something fun and integral to family life. Build a sod house like prairie settlers did in the 1800s. Go back in time to visit five families that lived in the same house...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Energy of Motion

For Teachers 6th - 8th
By taking a look at the energy of motion all around us, students learn about the types of energy and their characteristics. They first learn about the two simplest forms of mechanical energy: kinetic and potential energy, as illustrated...
Interactive
Government of Alberta

Learn Alberta: Math Interactives: Exploring Square Roots Video

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
This video illustrates the concepts of square roots, slope, and the Pythagorean Theorem as they are used in designing and constructing skate park rails, ramps, and pipes. An interactive activity is also included where students are able...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Modern Day Pyramids

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the ways in which ancient technologies - six types of simple machines and combinations - are used to construct modern buildings. As they work together to solve a design problem (designing and building a modern...
Handout
Physics Classroom

The Physics Classroom: 1 Dimensional Kinematics

For Students 6th - 8th
An activity in which average speed is calculated for a ball sliding along an inclined plane. This speed is compared to various instantaneous speeds along the incline.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Potential Energy: How Is It Related to Kinetic Energy

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
After creating three different ramps with various heights, students will release toy cars from the tops of each ramp. Based on the elementary age level, students will collect data and analyze it.
Activity
The Franklin Institute

[Archived Content] the Franklin Institute: The Screw Demonstration

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an activity demonstrating that the screw is an inlined plane.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Lab Activity, Rotational Inertia

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lab activity in which students observe the rolling of objects along an inclined plane. The the rotational inertia of the objects are compared based upon their acceleration along the incline. Directions and assessment ideas are given.
Activity
Other

Odyssey of the Mind: Up to Speed

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students "learn about vehicles, velocity, angles, and energy," as they participate in a variety of creative and hands-on activities, like building adjustable ramps, researching modes of transportation, and predicting "what transportation...
Lesson Plan
NASA

Nasa: Simple Machines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A lesson plan site that contains activities designed to give grades 3 and 4 experiences in using simple machines.
Activity
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Roll or Slide?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
A classroom activity where students discover whether an object rolls, slides, or stays put.
Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Curious George: Ramp N Roll Experiment

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Identify simple principles of physical science and engineering by exploring ramps and things that roll. Predict which items will slide or roll down a ramp and test your predictions.
Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Simple Machines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Good combination of teacher demonstration and student interaction for this simple machine lesson. Great for talking about force and work. Plans are for grades 2-4, yet are adaptable.
Activity
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Down the Slide

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Take the students out to the playground so they can explore things that go down the slide.
Activity
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Steep and Steeper

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students explore what happens to a rolling object when the steepness of the ramp is increased.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Read and Discuss: Ten on the Sled

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Discussion and integrations ideas for the read aloud book, Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman.
Activity
PBS

Wgbh: Peep and the Big Wide World: Explore and Play: Snowy Hills

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students make two snowy hills, one steep and one gentle, to discover their effects on rolling objects.