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...
Science Companion
Simple Machines Design Project
Make your work as a teacher a little easier with a physical science project on simple machines. After introducing young scientists to these devices and identifying their different uses around the school, this project engages...
Purdue University
Simple Machines
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...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students are introduced to a scenario: a ramshackle house is in need of repair. The roof leaks, the refrigerator is broken, it needs paint, etc. They are explained that in order to repair the home, students must use tools. Students...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students investigate and explain simple machines and their uses. Key concepts include: lever, screw, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane, and wedge.
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...
Curated OER
Brown Paper Bag Simple Machine
Students explore simple machines. In this simple machines science lesson, students work with a partner to identify what kind of simple machine is represented by a variety of household objects placed in paper bags. Students...
Curated OER
Simple Machines or Are They?
In this science worksheet, students examine and discuss ten examples of simple machines to understand how they work and then color them.
Curated OER
Household Tools
Students explore parts of a system. In this simple machines lesson, students discover that simple machines are composed of two or more systems. Students examine household tools and assess the parts of the system.
Curated OER
Levers and Pulleys and Gears, Oh My!
Students explore the difference between compound and simple machines in this six lessons of this unit. The purpose and importance of a variety of types of simple machines and the effects of friction are investigated.
Curated OER
Watch It Slide!
Students work together to examine inclined planes. They create a plan to raise rocks to build pyramids. They discover the changes that occur when the angle is increased or decreased.
Curated OER
Simple Machines or Are They?
Students discover basic machines and how they make completing work easier. They identify two basic machines, the inclined plane and the lever and the functions of these simple machines.
Curated OER
We Have Work To Do - Science
Students begin to think of ways to make work easier. They will focus on ways to extend their abilities to lift heavy things. They will identify levers, pulleys, and inclined planes through the examination of concrete objects and hands on...
Curated OER
The Physics of Tools
Students investigate the nature and work of simple tools and mechanics.
They explain how each simple machine can be used in real world applications. They explore levers, balance beams, windlasses, wedges, gears, ocarinas, harmonicas,...
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.
Curated OER
ChalkBoard Challenge
This is a nicely designed jeopardy game with the categories animals, space, rocks, simple machines, and weather available for 5 values. There are some non-essential sound effects included. The links work and you can return to the...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Students investigate what simple machines are and how they work. In this simple machine lesson, the students create simple and compound machines and test each machine's ability to perform a task. Students compare simple machines to...
Curated OER
Simple Machines Challenge
In this simple machines facts worksheet, students respond to 6 multiple choice questions that require them to exhibit what they know about simple machines.
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Eighth graders work together in groups to introduce themselves to the six types of simple machines. They are to record what the machine does, its mechanical advantage and identify real world situations in which they are used. They...
Curated OER
Simple Machines Alphabet Activity
In this simple machines worksheet, students put the names of simple machines in alphabetical order. Students put 6 names of simple machines in alphabetical order.
Curated OER
Simple Machines Word Search
For this simple machines worksheet, students analyze 10 words in a word bank that pertain to simple machines. Students find these words in a word search puzzle.
Chandler Unified School District
Art Masterpiece—Leonardo da Vinci Inventions
After getting to know the inventor, Leonardo da Vinci and his many inventions, scholars think up their own invention. Following a written description and a hand-drawn picture, learners use a method of mirror writing and antiquing to give...
Curated OER
Simple Machines
Third graders examine and identify the six types of simple machines. Using a model of each simple machine, they demonstrate the state the function of them to the class. They discover examples of simple machines at school and home and...
Curated OER
Inventor's Workshop
Students explore the six simple machines that are the basis for all mechanical devices. In this physics lesson, students choose one simple machine to research and then find a complex machine it is apart of. Students examine Leonardo...