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,...
Chicago Children's Museum
Simple Machines: Force and Motion
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...
Teach Engineering
The Advantage of Machines
Show your students how to make their work easier. The first lesson plan 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...
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
Students watch a video and play a game. In this simple machines lesson plan, 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 students...
Curated OER
Simple Machines, Odd Machines
Students recognize and identify common objects that can be used as a lever. For 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. In this scientific method instructional activity, students examine physical tools such as wedges, screws, and levers using a "how does it work" approach. Students...
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, 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
Simple Machines
In this simple machines worksheet, students read about different simple machines and then complete word problems about a ramp and a lever. Students complete 2 word problems.
Curated OER
Challenger's Lost Lessons - The Lost Simple Machines Lesson
Students investigate the characteristics of simple machines. In 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
Young scholars 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...
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
Simple Machines Test
In this simple machines vocabulary worksheet, students match the vocabulary term found in the first column with the correct definition found in the second column. There are 23 words and definitions to match.
Shodor Education Foundation
Function Machine
Machines can be so helpful sometimes. A simple interactive has learners enter input values for a function machine and observe output values. These values help determine a function that represents the input-output relationship in the...
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...
Curated OER
Round and Round--Wheels and Axles
In this wheels and axles learning exercise, students read a 1 page article, make a list of how many objects they can find or think if that uses a wheel or axle and then design their own machine.
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.