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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: How a Faucet Works

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students learn about the underlying engineering principals in the inner workings of a simple household object - the faucet. Students use the basic concepts of simple machines, force and fluid flow to describe the path of water through a...
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Lesson Plan
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)

Smile: Simple Machines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Good combination of teacher demonstration and student interaction for this simple machine lesson. Great for talking about force and work. Plans are for grades 2-4, yet are adaptable.
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Handout
Scholastic

Scholastic: Dirtmeister's Science Reporters: Simple Machines: Pulley

For Teachers 9th - 10th
With-it explanation of how the pulley works, where it's found. Most interesting, as Scholastic material usually is.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Pyramid Building: How to Use a Wedge

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn how simple machines, including wedges, were used in building both ancient pyramids and present-day skyscrapers. In a hands-on activity, students test a variety of wedges on different materials (wax, soap, clay, foam)....
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Unit Plan
Beacon Learning Center

Beacon Learning Center: How Can We Move Our Principal?

For Students Pre-K - 1st
In this problem solving exercise, students must decide which simple machine would work best in different situations, in order to help the principal manoeuvre himself after he has hurt his leg and can't walk. The site has a good tutorial...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Levers Weight Lifters

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
During this lesson, learners will have the opportunity to explore levers through hands-on experiences and by navigating the Internet. This lesson allows students to use their experiences to determine how levers and other simple machines...
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Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Construction of a Complex Machine Through Classroom Collaboration

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students take a simple task and make it much more complicated using a cardboard box. Each group must use a minimum of six simple machines utilizing at least four types of simple machines. The goal is to keep the initial impulse moving...
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Lesson Plan
Other

Ontario Council for Technology Education: Designing and Testing a Crane [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
By the end of this project, students will be familiar with the 6 different simple machines and will be able to identify how these machines are used in products and tools they use on a daily basis. They will investigate how mechanical...
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Unit Plan
Other

Mechanical Systems

For Students 5th - 8th
A collection of resources on how humans use machines and tools to meet their needs. Covers simple and complex machines, subsystems that transfer forces, mechanical advantage, speed ratio, the effect of friction, efficiency, the science...
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Activity
Museum of Science

The Museum of Science: Gadget Anatomy

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The Museum of Science presents some compound machines and asks students to identify which simple machines they are composed of. Students provide their answer and receive immediate feedback.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Putting Robots to Work With Force & Friction

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about the concept of pushing, as well as the relationship between force and mass. Students practice measurement skills using pan scales and rulers to make predictions about mass and distance. A LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot is...
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Lesson Plan
Other

How to smile.org: Building Pulleys

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
An activity where students use pulley systems to pick up a paint can and move an eraser from the ground to the top of a desk. After completing this activity, students will understand how pulley systems can help us do work.
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Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Engineering Solutions

For Students K - 1st
Anyone who has attempted one of those "claw machine" games at local restaurants or retailers knows how impossible it seems to win. This activity will get students using the engineering design process to develop a claw that will actually...
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Screw

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What a screw is, how it works and its mechanical advantage.
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Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Wedge

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What a wedge is and its mechanical advantage, how it changes force to make work easier.
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Activity
Museum of Science

Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Build a Lever

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Step-by-step illustrated instructions for an experiment investigating how a lever works. An explanation of the science involved is given at the end.
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Unknown Type
My Science Site

Finding Examples of Machines [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Ready, set, go! Send your students racing to find examples of machines with this reproducible. A great way to enhance student learning on an unit on work and machines. This resource is in PDF form; requires Adobe Reader.
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Gears Go Round!

For Students 3rd - 8th
Music boxes, bicycles, and clocks all have one thing in common: GEARS. You might say that gears make the world turn, since they are in so many mechanical instruments. How do they work and how do you know which gears to use? Find out in...
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Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network

Uen: Trb 3:3 Investigation 3 Weighty Mistakes

For Teachers 3rd
Understand the concept of "work" and the use of levers.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Pulley'ing Your Own Weight

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Using common materials (spools, string, soap), students learn how a pulley can be used to easily change the direction of a force, making the moving of large objects easier. They see the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and...
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Activity
Other

D&t Online: Gears

For Students 9th - 10th
This site illustrates how gears work and how they are used in simple machines.
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Handout
Scholastic

Scholastic: Dirtmeister: The Inclined Plane

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This site from Dirtmeister gives information on how the Ancient Egyptians used the inclined plane. Dirtmeister explains the inclined plane and its uses.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Heave Ho!

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
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...
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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Engineering Ups and Downs

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Engineering design lesson examines the principles behind working elevators. Teams of young scholars explore how elevators work, then design, build, and evaluate their own elevator to service a toy car garage.

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