Curated OER
Machines: Not So Simple
Students examine the names and images of simple machines in a matching activity. They build a simple machine using K'NEX before taking and printing out a digital picture of their example. They complete five station activities based on...
Curated OER
Smoses Toy Expo
Young scholars research one of the simple machines listed in the lesson and review several simple machine websites to complete their research. Students use software and a watch a video to learn more about machines. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Three Classes of Levers
Students explore three classes of levers. They classify the class of lever represented by a picture. Students discuss their choices. They prepare a written paper explaining their choice.
Curated OER
Simple and Complex Machines Used In Agriculture
Young scholars explore agriculture and the current technologies and research that continue to make Earth a viable planet. This four lessons unit introduce students to simple machines and the concepts of force and friction through a...
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
Break It Down!
Students explore the everyday implications of system failure. They are challenged to identify the causes of system failure.
Curated OER
Levers - An Interactive Lesson
Seventh graders identify the different parts of a lever. In this physics lesson plan, 7th graders draw a lever and label the different parts. They use the interactive board to create their own lever.
Curated OER
Exploring Levers
Students examine the parts of a lever system and their functions. In this simple machines lesson students study the different classes of levers and what they are used for.
Curated OER
Simple Machines
In this simple machines worksheet, students will write in 6 examples of simple machines and then write in what those simple machines can do.
Curated OER
Secrets of Lost Empires I
Middle schoolers investigate how levers can be used to lift objects. They participate in hands-on activities to explore the distance a load is lifted when comparing the amount the lever arm was pushed down. Students discover the how...
Curated OER
Work Made Easy
Second graders maneuver placement of the fulcrum on the lever to see how to lift weight most easily. They role-play as archaeologists with the task of lifting a heavy rock from the dig site. They write in science journals about what...
Curated OER
Make Work Easier!
Pupils work in pairs to design a lever. They conduct experiments using a penny and nickel to explore the uses of a lever.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Lever an Obelisk
Investigate the mechanical advantage of the lever in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Balancing the Load: The See Saw as a Simple Machine
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...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Effect of Trebuchet Arm Length or Counterweight Mass on Project
A trebuchet is a catapult that uses a counterweight to supply the energy for throwing. They were used in the Middle Ages for attacking castle walls. In this project, you build your own model trebuchet and investigate how design changes...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Give It a Lift With a Lever
Simple machines allow us to do difficult tasks like lifting objects heavier than our body weight. In this science project you'll build a tabletop lever and measure how much effort it takes to lift an object by altering the length of the...
SEDL
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory: Simple Machines [Pdf]
This large PDF file contains seven lessons on simple machines. Includes illustrations. Requires Adobe Reader.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Magician's Catapult
In this activity, students reinforce their understanding of compound machines by building a catapult. This compound machine consists of a lever and a wheel-and-axel. Catapults have been designed by engineers for a variety of purposes -...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Simple Machines From Pyramids to Skyscrapers
Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier, and which people have used to provide mechanical advantage for thousands of years. Students learn about the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Levers That Lift
This activity introduces students to three of the six simple machines used by many engineers: the lever, the pulley, and the wheel-and-axle. In general, engineers use the lever to magnify the force applied to an object, the pulley to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A Simple Solution for the Circus
In this activity, students are challenged to design a contraption using simple machines to move a circus elephant into a rail car. After students consider their audience and constraints, they work in groups to brainstorm ideas and select...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Modern Day Pyramids
Students investigate the ways in which ancient technologies - six types of simple machines and combinations - are used to construct modern buildings. As they work together to solve a design problem (designing and building a modern...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Simple Machines
Through a five-lesson series with five hands-on activities, students are introduced to six simple machines - inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel-and-axle - as well as compound machines, which are combinations of two or...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: There's a Machine in My Toy Box!
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...