Students will discover the scientific basis for the use of inclined planes. They will explore, using a spring scale, a bag of rocks and an inclined plane, how dragging objects up a slope is easier than lifting them straight up into the...

Explore sports science and build a ramp that will roll a ball right to the target.

Discuss classroom explorations and discoveries about ramps.

Students experiment with different materials and objects to make a sled that will slide down the ramps.

Designed for Grade Eight, this collection of lessons provides information, examples and quizzes related to simple machines. Elementary students studying this topic will find this site informative as well.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Use given friction formulas and an interactive diagram for an inclined plane to solve a motion problem. After the activity, answer a challenge question to check for understanding.

A slideshow and a short quiz on simple machines and how they reduce the amount of work or effort needed to complete a task.

Simple machines such as inclined planes in wedges and screws are explained.

There are six simple machines. They are as follows: lever, wheel, pulley, incline plane, wedge, and screw. This tutorial will cover the first three.

Explore forces, energy, and work as you push household objects up and down a ramp. Lower and raise the ramp to see how the angle of inclination affects the parallel forces acting on the file cabinet. Graphs show forces, energy and work.

Discussion and integrations ideas for the read aloud book, Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman.

Students make two snowy hills, one steep and one gentle, to discover their effects on rolling objects.

An exceptional tutorial on the topic of vectors that offers many helpful graphics, some of which are interactive.

Explore how different objects move down ramps in this Curious George instructional activity. Students will make predictions about how objects will roll down different heights of ramps.

By taking a look at the energy of motion all around us, students learn about the types of energy and their characteristics. They first learn about the two simplest forms of mechanical energy: kinetic and potential energy, as illustrated...

A thorough discussion of all the simple machines, beginning with some thoughts on mechanical advantage and conservation of energy. Very complete. Move down to the section that interests you.

Identify the six simple machines by dragging the correct term, and dropping it onto the associated simple machine.

Explore the physics of motion and simple machines with this interactive game. Try a pre-made challenge or set up ramps in your own challenge to get the mysterious Dim Sum ball into the take-out container.

This site from NASA provides an excellent tutorial on vectors and their use in physics to describe the motion of objects. Vector addition and resolution are illustrated.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart consists of a humorous quiz on identifying simple machines and forces of motion such as gravity and inertia.

Take the students out to the playground so they can explore things that go down the slide.

A classroom activity where students discover whether an object rolls, slides, or stays put.

Students explore what happens to a rolling object when the steepness of the ramp is increased.

This site, in German, offers numerous apps that illustrate common physics principles. Apps are organized into categories: mechanics, oscillations and waves, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, physics of...