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Lesson Plan
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Purdue University

Simple Machines – Dog Gone It!

For Teachers 3rd Standards
How can people use simple machines to solve real-world STEM problems? Learn about simple machines using a hands-on, project-based learning activity. First, pupils investigate and evaluate simple machines. Then, they receive a task that...
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Unit Plan
Colorado Unit Writing Project

Simple Machines

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
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...
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Unit Plan
Norwich Institute for Language Education

Simple Machines

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
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. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines IV - Levers

For Teachers 4th
The principles of levers and simple machines are presented here. An easy-to-make lever is constructed by each group of scientists, and they use it to explore how this simple machine makes heavy things so much easier to lift and move. A...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Levers and Wedges in the Human Body

For Teachers 3rd
Young biologists identify parts of the body that serve as wedges (teeth and fingernails), and as levers (jaw, arms, and legs). The hands-on activities described here should be exciting for learners to perform, and should also lead to a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Qualitative Examples of Conservation of Mechanical Energy

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
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,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Have Work to Do!

For Teachers K - 2nd
An excellent lesson awaits your young scientists! In it, learners are invited to explore the world of pulleys, levers, and planes; simple machines that make lifting heavy things much, much easier. They watch video, and engage in hands-on...
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PPT
Curated OER

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Machines

For Teachers 2nd
Designed for a lower elementary school classroom, this presentation on simple machines is a wonderful way to introduce this topic. The resource begins by identifying and defining the six types of simple machines, and then goes on to...
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Activity
Museum of Science

Water Balloon Catapult

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Fire away! Using a couple of milk jugs, a dowel rod, and a yardstick, individuals build catapults to throw water balloons. Learners notice that the catapult is a simple machine. By making a target, the class has a chance to refine their...
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Unit Plan
Rube Goldberg

Rube Goldberg's Simple Normal Humdrum School Day

For Teachers K - 8th Standards
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...
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Unit Plan
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

Simple Machines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Simple doesn't mean useless. Individuals learn how simple machines benefit the user by changing the amount of effort. A seven-lesson unit begins with an overview of simple machines and then incorporates activities that allow the user to...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Purdue University

Simple Machines

For Teachers 3rd Standards
What's the best way to use a simple machine to solve a real-world problem? Scholars construct their own simple and complex machines to explore the concepts of work and force. They discuss examples of simple machines they have found in...
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Activity
Evergreen Exhibitions

Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
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,...
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Interactive
Magic of Physics

Moving Toy Mechanisms

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
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...
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Activity
PBS

Helping Hand

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Reach out and grab something. Given the task of picking up objects at least two feet away, pupils design and build a grabber. The last activity in a series of five challenges requires learners to use information about fulcrums and levers.
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Activity
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PBS

Pop Fly

For Students 5th - 8th
A lever comes in handy when scholars build a launcher for a ping-pong ball. They test the launcher and redesign it to send the ball higher or to accommodate a tennis ball. This is the third lesson in a five-part unit.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Helping Hand

For Students 6th - 12th
Sometimes we all need a helping hand. Scholars get together to lend a hand in creating an assistive device that must be able to grab a hard-to-reach object. Now that's some help we could all use!
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Catapult

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
Studying levers couldn't be more exciting! Learners build their own catapults and test the results as they make adjustments to the fulcrum. They compete against other groups to create the most accurate apparatus.
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Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Catapults

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome. 
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Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

See Saw

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Can a mother who weighs five times more than her child really be held in the air on a see saw by the child? A simple simulation demonstrates how this is possible through altering the distance from the fulcrum. Scholars can adjust the...
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Lesson Plan
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PBS

Robo Arm

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Future engineers create robotic arms like those on rovers built by NASA in the second lesson of the series. They test their devices by attempting to pick up and move cups to a specified location.
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Interactive
PHET

Balancing Act

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
How can a teeter-totter balance when the two people are different sizes? Show classes how this works through a simulation. Scholars play with a teeter-totter to show how different masses and their placement affect balance. Once they have...
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Activity
2
2
Teach Engineering

The Magician's Catapult

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
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.
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

A Simple Solution for the Circus

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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...