Teaching About Simple Machines

This site details how simple machines create a mechanical advantage for humans. Levers, theoretical mechanical advantage, actual mechanical advantage, and pulley systems are discussed.

Simplify students' lives with this physical science note-taking guide. From inclined planes to moveable pulleys, this resource supports young scientists with defining each type of simple machine while identifying their mechanical...

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. 

The world of compliant mechanisms is only limited by the imagination! The video lesson begins with a comparison between traditional machines and compliant mechanisms. The scientists then explain the advantage of having flexible, bendable...

It is plane to see that simple machines help reduce the force needed to perform a task.  This resource introduces three of the simple machines--the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw, and  the formulas in order to be able...

Introduce your class to to the remaining three simple machines-- the lever, pulley, and the wheel-and-axle with a plan that includes the three different types of levers in the discussion of levers. The activity continues with the...

Sometimes simple machines don't seem so...simple. The video lesson explains the principles of simple machines. Viewers also discover the concept of mechanical advantage and how it affects the forces related to simple machines. 

Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Actual and ideal mechanical advantage, how to calculate them and the mechanical advantage of different types of machines.

Good illustrations and explanations for finding the mechanical advantage of pulley systems.