Curated OER
Simple Machines
Here is an inventive plan that should get your young scientists excited! In it, groups of pupils test out the work done by six different simple machines. The machines are: the wedge, the lever, the inclined plane, the pulley, the screw,...
Teach Engineering
The Advantage of Machines
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...
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...
Teach Engineering
A Simple Solution for the Circus
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...
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...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Simple Machines
Learners watch a video and play a game. In this simple machines lesson, students watch a video on simple machines. They play an interactive game on the Edheads web site and share what they have learned. Throughout the day learners...
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Odd Machines
Students recognize and identify common objects that can be used as a lever. In 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.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Simple Machines
Students investigate simple machines and their uses in everyday life. For this scientific method lesson, students examine physical tools such as wedges, screws, and levers using a "how does it work" approach. Students complete...
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
Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Students design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a simple task in at least ten steps. They view and discuss various Rube Goldberg designs, identify types of simple machines, and in small groups produce a schematic...
Curated OER
Summer Machines Activity: How Can We Move This Box of Blocks?
Students discover there's more than one way to move a heavy load. In this problem solving lesson plan, students use observation and problem-solving skills as they experiment with simple machines in order to transport loads.
Curated OER
How Machines Help Us Stay Healthy
Students visit different departments at a local hospital to see how machines help peoples such as the CAT scan machine. They build a model of such a machine that shows how patients are moved in and out of the machine.
Curated OER
Challenger's Lost Lessons - The Lost Simple Machines Lesson
Students investigate the characteristics of simple machines. For this simple machine lesson, students investigate work as a product of applying constant force. They answer questions about what happens on Earth and what may have happened...
Curated OER
The Art of Simple Machines
Students investigate the inventions of simple machines in our past and how they affect us today. In this engineering lesson, students discover who Rube Goldberg was and his ideas about complicated machines performing very simple tasks....
Curated OER
Simple Machines and Modern Day Engineering Analogies
Students apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the engineers and...
Curated OER
My Crazy Contraption
Fourth graders design a contraption, which contains five different examples of simple machines and works without intervention. They sketch designs and label its parts. They present their creations to the class and relate them to Rube...
Teach Engineering
The Magician's Catapult
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.
Kenan Fellows
The Newton Challenge
Make Newton proud. Scholars apply their understanding of forces and energy to an engineering design challenge. They learn about simple machines, create a presentation on Newton's laws, and develop a balloon-powered car.
Curated OER
A Math Board Game
Math is fun with a board game printable set. After printing the pieces and board for the game, have your kids play in groups to practice concepts such as operations and arithmetic formulas.
Curated OER
TRIANGULATEERS IN THE REAL WORLD
Students explore about triangles and the simple machines that are made from those triangles. They are able to identify the kinds of triangles in the machines, tell how the triangular shapes make the machines function, and build a simple...
Curated OER
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Sixth graders discuss how people, society, and technology change over time through a unit of integrated lessons. In these changes in society lessons, 6th graders discuss the answers to many questions about how changes effect the...
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Odd Machine
Pupils examine levers and design a machine that uses a lever as a central component. For this lever machine lesson students test various machine designs and evaluate their effectiveness.
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
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.
Curated OER
How Gear Systems Work: A Research Project
Students apply information regarding simple machines along with the math concept "ratios." The teacher introduces the concept that technology is the application of scientific knowledge and mathematics concepts to solve a problem. This is...