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.
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...
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...
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.
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...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students investigate what simple machines are and how they work. For this simple machine lesson, the students create simple and compound machines and test each machine's ability to perform a task. Students compare simple machines to...
Curated OER
Brown Paper Bag Simple Machine
Students explore simple machines. In this simple machines science lesson, students work with a partner to identify what kind of simple machine is represented by a variety of household objects placed in paper bags. Students write down...
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
Ins and Outs of Simple Machines
Students 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.
Teach Engineering
Just Plane Simple
It is plane to see that simple machines help reduce the force needed to perform a task. This resource introduces three of the simple machines--the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw, and the formulas in order to be able to...
Curated OER
What is a Compound Machine?
In this compound machine activity, learners review what simple machines are put together to make compound machines. This activity has 5 fill in the blank and 2 short answer questions.
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...
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...
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Engines and the Environment
Fourth graders calculate the mechanical advantage of an inclined plane. In this physics lesson plan, 4th graders identify the different types of simple machines and their uses. They give examples of compound machines.
Curated OER
Machines at Work
Students discuss how simple machines have made our lives easier and construct a compound machine. In this machines lesson plan, students watch a video on machines, look at websites, and follow task cards in order to make a simple machine.
Curated OER
Teaching About Simple Machines
Students identify six different simple machines. They investigate the difference between the ideal and actual mechanical advantage. Students calculate the actual mechanical advantage for several simple machines.
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students examine six simple machines and investigate who Rube Goldberg is. They explore various websites, write an article, write ten interesting facts about Rube Goldberg, and design and construct a simple machine.
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...
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 continues with the...
Curated OER
Lever as a Simple Machine
Young scholars study the three different types of levers and develop a simple machine. In this levers and simple machines lesson, students look at different types of levers, and experiment with a ruler and a marshmallow to determine how...
Curated OER
Making Life Easier
Students use a chart of the six simple machines and become aware of how the machines improve our ability to meet the following needs: shelter, food, water, and transportation. Students use model cars to experiment with force. They divide...
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.
Curated OER
Monkeying Around
Third graders study machines. They watch a video about and identify and chart machines they find at home and at school. They design and build simple and compound machines, create an advertisement for them and attempt to sell them at the...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Tree House Escape
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM instructional activity. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.