Unit D Lesson D1
Completion requirements
Lesson D1: Types of Simple Machines
Video Lesson
What are the simplest types of machines that make it easier for people to do work? Watch this video to learn more about simple machines.
Lesson D1: Types of Simple Machines
Figure D.1.1.1 β First Nations used wedges to scrape flesh off animal hides.
Figure D.1.1.2 β Aboriginal people in Canada made arrowheads from stone.
Aboriginal Simple Machines
For thousands of years, Aboriginal people in Canada relied on simple machines to perform important tasks like hunting for food. Many early Aboriginal tools incorporated wedges and levers to multiply force.
Aboriginal people used arrows and spears to hunt animals for food. They often attached stone wedges to arrows and spears. The Inuit used a special spear called a harpoon to hunt fish, seals, and whales. A tomahawk is an axe made from a stone wedge and a wooden handle. First Nations used tomahawks as weapons, but also for cutting and chopping tough substances.
For thousands of years, Aboriginal people in Canada relied on simple machines to perform important tasks like hunting for food. Many early Aboriginal tools incorporated wedges and levers to multiply force.
Aboriginal people used arrows and spears to hunt animals for food. They often attached stone wedges to arrows and spears. The Inuit used a special spear called a harpoon to hunt fish, seals, and whales. A tomahawk is an axe made from a stone wedge and a wooden handle. First Nations used tomahawks as weapons, but also for cutting and chopping tough substances.
Reading and Materials
for This Lesson
Science in Action 8
Reading: Pages 259β268
Materials:
Wooden clothespin, plastic straw, 4 identical round buttons, thin wire (20 cm), wire cutters, masking tape, ruler, scissors.
Aboriginal people in Canada also used wedges as chisels to scrape away at objects. They used wedge-shaped bones to scrape flesh and hair off animal hides. They used stone wedges to create decorative and religious wood and bone carvings.
Figure D.1.1.3 β A harpoon is a fishing spear with a wedge and a lever.
Figure D.1.1.4 β A tomahawk is an axe containing a wedge and a lever.
Watch More
Simple Machines Song
This song reviews simple machines. Can you find examples of all six simple machines in the song?
This song reviews simple machines. Can you find examples of all six simple machines in the song?
Try It!
Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt
Try this scavenger hunt to find examples of simple machines around your house.
Download:
DOWNLOAD this document. It provides a scavenger hunt chart you will use later in this activity. It also has a place for you to answer a question at the end of the activity. Print this document out if you prefer to carry it around the house on your scavenger hunt.
Instructions:
Try this scavenger hunt to find examples of simple machines around your house.
Download:
DOWNLOAD this document. It provides a scavenger hunt chart you will use later in this activity. It also has a place for you to answer a question at the end of the activity. Print this document out if you prefer to carry it around the house on your scavenger hunt.
Instructions:
- Find ten machines around your house that contain at least one simple machine. Good places to look are kitchen
drawers and cupboards, tool boxes, and in the garage.
- Examine each item carefully. On the scavenger hunt chart, list the item and the simple machines in it. One example has been given to you. Try to find at least one example of each simple machine for your chart.
Question:
Think about the following question very carefully. Then, type or write your answer. After you have your answer, click the question for feedback.
Think about the following question very carefully. Then, type or write your answer. After you have your answer, click the question for feedback.
You probably discovered that many of the simple machines in your home are levers. Other simple machines, like pulleys, are often hidden and may have been difficult to find.
Sharing:
Congratulations on completing this activity! Did you find any strange or unusual machines around your home? Consider sharing them in the course Sharing Forum! Take a photo of it and post it. Your teacher and other students would be interested in seeing different machines.
Congratulations on completing this activity! Did you find any strange or unusual machines around your home? Consider sharing them in the course Sharing Forum! Take a photo of it and post it. Your teacher and other students would be interested in seeing different machines.
Figure D.1.1.5 β Spoked wheels make vehicles move faster.
Figure D.1.1.6 β Wheels are useful on transportation machines.
Figure D.1.1.7 β We use wheel and axle doorknobs every day.
Reinventing the Wheel
Have you ever heard the saying, βDonβt reinvent the wheelβ? This saying means donβt waste time and effort making something that someone else has already invented. However, this saying is not entirely accurate. Over time, humans have made many improvements to the design of the wheel and axle.
The wheel and axle makes transportation easier because it reduces the friction between a moving object and the ground. The wheel and axle was invented about 6500 years ago. The first wheels were made from heavy slices of solid wood. A cart with solid wooden wheels could not move quickly.
About 4000 years ago, humans invented lighter spoked wheels. Spokes are rods that radiate from the center of the wheel to the circular rim of the wheel. After the invention of spoked wheels, ancient people started using horse-drawn chariots for travelling and racing.
In the 1800s, rubber inflatable tires were invented. Inflatable tires fit around wheel rims and made travelling in a vehicle faster and less bumpy.
How would your life change if the wheel and axle had never been invented? What everyday things could you not do without wheels?
Have you ever heard the saying, βDonβt reinvent the wheelβ? This saying means donβt waste time and effort making something that someone else has already invented. However, this saying is not entirely accurate. Over time, humans have made many improvements to the design of the wheel and axle.
The wheel and axle makes transportation easier because it reduces the friction between a moving object and the ground. The wheel and axle was invented about 6500 years ago. The first wheels were made from heavy slices of solid wood. A cart with solid wooden wheels could not move quickly.
About 4000 years ago, humans invented lighter spoked wheels. Spokes are rods that radiate from the center of the wheel to the circular rim of the wheel. After the invention of spoked wheels, ancient people started using horse-drawn chariots for travelling and racing.
In the 1800s, rubber inflatable tires were invented. Inflatable tires fit around wheel rims and made travelling in a vehicle faster and less bumpy.
How would your life change if the wheel and axle had never been invented? What everyday things could you not do without wheels?
Watch More
Wheels and Friction
Watch this video to learn more about how wheels reduce the amount of friction created when an object moves along the ground.
Watch this video to learn more about how wheels reduce the amount of friction created when an object moves along the ground.
Try It!
Figure D.1.1.8 β Clothespin cars. Image courtesy Almost Unschoolers.
Clothespin Car
Try this experiment to make a simple toy car with wheels and axles.
Materials:
Try this experiment to make a simple toy car with wheels and axles.
Materials:
- Wooden clothespin
- Plastic straw
- 4 identical round buttons
- Thin wire (20 cm)
- Wire cutters
- Masking tape
- Ruler
- Scissors
Safety Warning
Take care with sharp wire cutters; donβt cut yourself or anyone else!
Instructions:
- With the scissors, cut two pieces of straw, each 3 cm long.
- With the wire cutters, cut two pieces of wire, each 10 cm long.
- Thread one piece of wire through each piece of straw.
- Attach one button to each end of the wire in the straw. Thread the wire through the buttonhole and twist the wire to secure the button. The buttons should be close to, but not touching the straw. Use the wire cutters to cut off any extra wire.
- Pinch open the clothespin and clip one straw inside its circular slot.
- Close the clothespin. Push the other straw into the βVβ at the back of the clothespin.
- Wrap masking tape around the two back prongs of the clothespin, so the second straw stays in the βVβ at the back of the clothespin (see Fig. D.1.1.8).
- Try pushing your car along the floor or down a ramp. If it doesnβt move very well, what adjustments could you make to the design? Try making those adjustments. If you think different materials would work better, go ahead and use them in your adjusted
design.
Questions:
Think about the following questions very carefully. Then, type or write your answers. After you have your answers, click the questions for feedback.
Think about the following questions very carefully. Then, type or write your answers. After you have your answers, click the questions for feedback.
The buttons are the wheels. The buttons are probably made from hard plastic.
The wire pieces are the axles. The wire is probably made of copper or steel.
The straws contain the wire axles, allowing the axles to spin freely.
Sharing:
Congratulations on completing this activity! Consider sharing your completed clothespin car in the course Sharing Forum. Take a photo of it and post it; your teacher and other students would be interested in seeing how your clothespin car turned out! You can also email your completed work to your teacher and ask for feedback.
Congratulations on completing this activity! Consider sharing your completed clothespin car in the course Sharing Forum. Take a photo of it and post it; your teacher and other students would be interested in seeing how your clothespin car turned out! You can also email your completed work to your teacher and ask for feedback.
Connections
Figure D.1.1.9 β An arm swinging a tennis racket is a lever.
Figure D.1.1.10 β A baseball bat can make a ball move at a high speed.
Figure D.1.1.11 β A player using a hockey stick is an example of a third class lever.
>> Sports Equipment Levers
Many sports involve hitting balls or pucks to make them travel at high speeds. To move a ball or puck at high speed, many pieces of sports equipment are third class levers. When used to swing with an arm, hockey sticks, baseball bats, golf clubs, tennis rackets, and lacrosse sticks are all examples of third class levers.
The fulcrum is located at one end of a third class lever. When an athlete holds a sports equipment lever, one of their hands acts as the fulcrum. Their other hand delivers force near the end of the lever. Third class levers require a lot of effort to use. Their advantage is not reducing force, but increasing speed. You can make a ball or puck move much faster with a lever than you could without the simple machine.
Figure D.1.1.12 β Sailboats and sailing ships contain many block and tackle pulleys.
Figure D.1.1.13 β Massive block and tackles can lift a boat out of the water.
Block and Tackle
Pulleys are very useful for lifting heavy loads, especially when multiple pulleys are combined. A block and tackle is a system of multiple pulleys. Rope or cables loop around two blocks of pulleys.
Block and tackles are used on sailing ships and sailboats. These pulley systems lift and control heavy sails. Block and tackles are also used on cranes, to lift heavy objects.
Pulleys are very useful for lifting heavy loads, especially when multiple pulleys are combined. A block and tackle is a system of multiple pulleys. Rope or cables loop around two blocks of pulleys.
Block and tackles are used on sailing ships and sailboats. These pulley systems lift and control heavy sails. Block and tackles are also used on cranes, to lift heavy objects.
Watch More
Powerful Pulleys
Watch this video to see how a block and tackle can be used to lift a person.
Watch this video to see how a block and tackle can be used to lift a person.
Make sure you have understood everything in this lesson. Use the Self-Check below, and the Self-Check & Lesson Review Tips to guide your learning.
Unit D Lesson 1 Self-Check
Instructions
Complete the following 6 steps.
Don't skip steps β if you do them in order, you will confirm your
understanding of this lesson and create a study bank for the future.
- DOWNLOAD the self-check quiz by clicking here.
- ANSWER all the questions on the downloaded quiz in the spaces provided. Think carefully before typing your answers. Review this lesson if you need to. Save your quiz when you are done.
- COMPARE your answers with the suggested "Self-Check Quiz Answers" below. WAIT! You didn't skip step 2, did you? It's very important to carefully write out your own answers before checking the suggested answers.
-
REVISE your quiz answers if you need to. If you answered all the questions correctly, you can skip this step. Revise means to change, fix, and add extra notes if you need to. This quiz is NOT FOR MARKS, so it is perfectly OK to correct
any mistakes you made. This will make your self-check quiz an excellent study tool you can use later.
- SAVE your quiz to a folder on your computer, or to your Private Files. That way you will know where it is for later studying.
- CHECK with your teacher if you need to. If after completing all these steps you are still not sure about the questions or your answers, you should ask for more feedback from your teacher. To do this, post in the Course Questions Forum, or send your teacher an email. In either case, attach your completed quiz and ask; "Can you look at this quiz and give me some feedback please?" They will be happy to help you!
Be a Self-Check
Superhero!
Self-Check Quiz Answers
Click each of the suggested answers below, and carefully compare your answers to the suggested answers.
If you have not done the quiz yet β STOP β and go back to step 1 above. Do not look at the answers without first trying the questions.
Switchbacks are inclined planes. Switchbacks allow the work of climbing a mountain to be spread over a longer distance, which uses less force.
The music school could use a crane with levers and pulleys to help move the piano into an open second floor window. The piano could be attached to a block and tackle system on the crane, which would reduce the force needed to lift the heavy
piano. The arm of the crane is a lever that helps lift the piano to the second floor.
The blades of the scissors are wedges. These wedges reduce the effort needed to split a piece of paper. The handles of the scissors are first class levers that help increase the amount of force applied to the paper.
The crank on the barrel composter is a wheel and axle that turns the barrel. The crank transfers force to the barrel, making the barrel move and mix the compost faster, with less effort.
A pulley clothesline changes the direction of the force that is applied. When you pull the upper clothesline towards you, the lower clothesline moves away from you, making more empty space for clothes.