Science and Technology

Activity

Experiment making paper screws with different threads, by using different-sized triangles wrapped around a pencil.

Activity

Put an elastic band around a small, heavy object such as a paperweight. Place a hook under the elastic band and have the children pull the object with the hook over various surfaces such as a desk, grass, a rubber mat or a polished floor. Have the children observe the force needed to move the object on the different surfaces by noting the amount of stretch in the rubber band. (The longer the rubber band, the greater the force required to move the object.) Discuss the effects of friction on the different surfaces. Have the class predict which surfaces will have less friction. Which simple machines could they use to move the object with less force?

Self and Society

Activity

Visit a local construction site or playground and identify the simple machines.

Activity

Challenge the students to identify as many simple machines as they can in the school and on the playground. This may be presented in the form of a

"Scavenger Hunt".

Language

Activity

Ask students to name some machines. Find pictures of machines in magazines and cut them out. Sort the pictures into complex and simple machines, and explain to students that a simple machine enables us to use less effort to move an object, or makes moving the object easier by changing the direction in which the force must be applied.

Activity

Ask students to bring in some tools or simple household gadgets such as scissors, a screwdriver or an eggbeater. Describe the function of each object and discuss how it makes tasks easier. Ask students how they would accomplish these tasks without these simple machines, e.g., cutting paper without scissors.

Activity

Have the students write sentences using the words on the vocabulary sheet.

The Arts

Fun Machine

Have the class construct a "Fun Machine" by combining a number of simple machines. Use everyday materials such as elastic bands, popsicle sticks, paperclips, empty thread spools etc.

Mural

Have each student draw a scene in which they use as many simple machines as possible. Challenge them to include one example of each simple machine in their picture. (Remember that complex machines are made of simple machines.) Have them ask a friend to find all of the simple machines drawn in the picture.

Math

Have available in the classroom a small wheelbarrow, a bucket, and 20 or 30 bricks or other weights. Ask the children to guess how many bricks they can carry in the bucket. Record this number. Place the estimated number of bricks in the bucket and have a student lift the bucket (if possible). Add bricks until the student can no longer lift the bucket, and record the number added. How many bricks are now in the bucket? Place the bucket in the wheelbarrow and ask a student to move it. How many bricks did this student move? Add more bricks and record the total. Now how many bricks did the student move?

Using subtraction, calculate how many more bricks the student moved using the wheelbarrow.

Discuss how a wheelbarrow is two simple machines - a lever and a wheel and axle. Explain the principles of the lever and the wheel and axle, and their application to the wheelbarrow.

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