eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Simple Machines

For Students 11th - 12th
From a chapter on Statics and Torque in a Physics textbook. This section of the chapter discusses the different types of simple machines and how to calculate their mechanical advantage. Includes questions, problems and exercises.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Inventions Using Simple Machines Project

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students will have completed a unit on the six simple machines (lever, inclined plane, pulley, wedge, screw, and wheel and axle) before beginning this project. Students will choose to investigate an invention composed of one or more...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Simple Machines

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
During this lesson, students learn about the six types of simple machines. They define each type of machine, experiment with each type, utilize the Internet to explore each type of machine and build their own simple machine. This lesson...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Simple Machines for Kids

For Students 2nd - 4th
Gives short descriptions of the six types of simple machines.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: There's a Machine in My Toy Box!

For Students 3rd - 5th
Simple machines are everywhere, even many of your toys are simple machines. Come visit this science fair project and explore the six types of simple machines. Find out how many are hiding under the hinged lid (yes, another simple...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Simple Machines

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This lesson will teach young scholars about simple machines. Students will have an opportunity to explore and identify simple machines used in their everyday lives. Young scholars will enjoy learning as they play a game on the Internet...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Simple Machines and Modern Day Engineering Analogies

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Balancing the Load: The See Saw as a Simple Machine

For Students 3rd - 5th
Have you ever tried to pull out a nail out of wood with your bare hands? Or have you tried to shove a staple through a stack of papers without a stapler? A hammer's claw, a stapler, a pair of pliers and a shovel are each examples of...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Rube Goldberg and the Meaning of Machines

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Simple and compound machines are designed to make work easier. When we encounter a machine that does not fit this understanding, the so-called machine seems absurd. For this lesson, the cartoons of Rube Goldberg are introduced and engage...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Simple Machines: Pulley Systems

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes some history of the pulley, how it works, the formula for calculating its mechanical advantage, types of pulley systems, and some applications of pulleys.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Spin Right 'Round With This Simple Electric Motor

For Students 6th - 8th
If you put on clothes that were washed in a washing machine, rode in a car, ate food from a fridge, warmed up lunch in a microwave, or played a video game, you used an electric motor. Try this science fair project and you'll learn how to...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Rube Goldberg is famous for his very complex machines that accomplish everyday tasks. Students will design and build a Rube Goldberg machine that will accomplish a simple task in no less than ten steps.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Pyramid Building: How to Use a Wedge

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars learn how simple machines, including wedges, were used in building both ancient pyramids and present-day skyscrapers. In a hands-on activity, students test a variety of wedges on different materials (wax, soap, clay,...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Powerful Pulleys

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about the simple machine called a pulley. They learn how a pulley can be used to change the direction of applied forces and move/lift extremely heavy objects, and the...
Lesson Plan
Other

Uss Constitution Museum: Constructing a Warship

For Teachers 1st - 5th
USS Constitution was built as a fighting machine and utilized the six simple machines of science to accomplish the many tasks required of her. Young scholars will identify and manipulate these machines to create inventions that would...
Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Function Machine

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Students investigate very simple functions by trying to guess the algebraic form from inputs and outputs.
Interactive
Shodor Education Foundation

Shodor Interactivate: Function Machine

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Students explore simple linear functions. The resource includes the activity and instructor resources.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tools and Equipment, Part I

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through a series of activities, students discover that the concept of mechanical advantage describes reality fairly well. They act as engineers creating a design for a ramp at a construction site by measuring four different inclined...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Pulley'ing Your Own Weight

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Using common materials (spools, string, soap), students learn how a pulley can be used to easily change the direction of a force, making the moving of large objects easier. They see the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Get Your Motor Running

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate motors and electromagnets as they construct their own simple electric motors using batteries, magnets, paper clips and wire.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Gears: Lift It Up!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students learn about the trade-off between speed and torque when designing gear ratios. The activity setup includes a LEGO pulley system with two independent gear sets and motors that spin two pulleys. Each pulley has...
Handout
Other

Archimedes Screw: Engravings

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, maintained by Dr. Chris Rorres of Drexel University, demonstrates how the design of Archimedes screw has made lasting impressions upon modern society. These historic engravings demonstrate the practical uses of the screw in...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: 4 Complex Rube Goldberg Ideas

For Students 3rd - 8th
An interesting approach to science projects where students are challenged to create complex machines that do very simple jobs, e.g., opening a door. Offers four ideas for projects.
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Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Ap Physics: Statics and Torque: Conceptual Questions

For Students 11th - 12th
This is a list of 19 study questions covering the major concepts in Chapter 9: Statics and Torque from the AP Physics online text.

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