Building Devices with Simple Machines: Pre-Assessment
Completion requirements
To power our modern lives, we need fuel. One of the most important fuels in the world is coal. In Alberta, more than half of our electricity is made by burning coal, to make steam, to turn turbines, to turn generators. In "the old days", mining coal was difficult, dangerous, and slow work. Now, thanks to powerful machines, coal can be mined safely in large amounts.
Some coal mines use big trucks to carry coal. Big turning wheels scoop up coal to place it on moving belts that move the coal to huge storage piles for later use. If you look at photos of this equipment, you will notice that a common feature is that they all have wheels and rollers.
In this unit, you will learn that wheels and rollers are very important when building devices and vehicles that move. You will learn about other simple machines such as levers, and how simple machines can be used to build devices.
Pre-Assessment
Why are machines and devices that move, so important?
To power our modern lives, we need fuel. One of the most important fuels in the world is coal. In Alberta, more than half of our electricity is made by burning coal, to make steam, to turn turbines, to turn generators. In "the old days", mining coal was difficult, dangerous, and slow work. Now, thanks to powerful machines, coal can be mined safely in large amounts.
Some coal mines use big trucks to carry coal. Big turning wheels scoop up coal to place it on moving belts that move the coal to huge storage piles for later use. If you look at photos of this equipment, you will notice that a common feature is that they all have wheels and rollers.
In this unit, you will learn that wheels and rollers are very important when building devices and vehicles that move. You will learn about other simple machines such as levers, and how simple machines can be used to build devices.
Ask Yourself
What do I already know about simple machines and building devices that move?
What could be more simple and fun than riding a mountain bike? Well, it sure is fun, but when you look closer at all the parts of a mountain bike, maybe it is not so simple! A bicycle uses many simple machines to form a device that moves. Do you know
some of the simple machine parts of a bicycle?
Let's start with something very simple – the lever. Did you know that many bicycles have "quick release" levers that allow you to change the front wheel with no tools? Some people also use this feature to lock their front wheel (or take it with them)
so their bike is not stolen.
Bicycles also have many other simple machine parts, such as wheels, axles, gears, chains, and more. If you were asked, could you find all these simple machines on a bicycle and explain what they do?
Notebook
Throughout this unit, you will keep a Notebook. The PDF or Word downloads are the pages of your Notebook.-
Create a folder on your computer or in the cloud titled “Machines Notebook”.
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Save all of the PDF or Word downloads to this folder.
- Your teacher or marker, may ask for your Notebook throughout the course to check your understanding of the material.
Notebook
- Click here to download the pre-assessment activity.
- Complete the activity and save it to your Machines Notebook.