An Exploration of Simple Machines

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...

Trying to plan a physical science unit on forces and motion? Make your work a little easier with this comprehensive collection of simple machines resources. Offering a wide variety worksheets, activities, and projects, these materials...

How does using a tool affect the amount of energy required to do work? is the driving question of an inquiry based lesson that guides scholars through the investigation of how energy relates to the purpose of different simple machines. 

Stretch, twitch, and jerk with a simple machines science activity. Three distinct exercises to explore pulleys, levers, gears, and how they are used daily in our world.

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...

The lever is an everyday simple machine. Youngsters learn the principles of levers and explore their many uses. Groups of pupils perform a simple lab where they lift objects with a fulcrum while placing the load in a variety of...

Teach young engineers that all machines, no matter how complicated or complex, are made up of just six simple devices with this hands-on physical science lesson. Using the included templates, students first create paper models of...

With well-thought-out and explicit instructions, this lesson is a terrific way to explore levers and inclined planes. There are detailed instructions and discussion suggestions throughout the resource.

Students examine six simple machines and investigate who Rube Goldberg is. They explore various websites, write an article, write ten interesting facts about Rube Goldberg, and design and construct a simple machine.

Fourth graders investigate and explore the inner workings of objects that help us do work. They examine how the parts work together to make the object function. Using the internet, 4th graders discover the interaction of the parts of a...