BACKGROUND:
You can lift people, buildings, cars, and heavy
rocks. You can cut through metal, and move faster
than anyone can run. How can you do all these things? By using machines.
Machines can make you stronger and let you move very fast. Machines help
make our work much easier.
But what is work? It's whenever you
move something from one place to another. Work that is hard requires a
lot of force; work that is easy requires less force.
| 1 book |
little force |
|
box of books |
little more force |
|
huge box of books |
a lot more
force |
What can make work
easier? How do you move it? By using a
machine (a machine is anything that can help you do work).
PROCEDURE:
- Use the simple machines in the
module and make stations around the room. At each station students
should try to identify the machine. They should also try to describe the
simple machine by using the terms: lever, inclined plane,
pulley, wedge,
wheel and axle, and gears. Review the Pre Lab.
- Have them predict what type of
work the machine is making easy.
- Answers: (please note, your
module only has a few of these items and you may want to include other
items)
- potato peeler - lever; easy to peel potatoes
- pizza cutter (in kit) - wheel and axle, wedge; easy to cut pizza
- egg cutter (in kit) - lever, wedge; cut eggs in thin slices easily
- can opener (in kit) - gear; open can easily
- spaghetti grabber (in kit) - lever; collect spaghetti by extending human arm
- toy car - wheel and axle; makes car move
- nail - wedge; cuts easily into materials by concentrating energy
- cork screw (in kit)- inclined plane, wedge; easily anchors one material into
another
- clothes pins - wedge, inclined plane, axle; holds up clothes easily
|
