Simple and Complex Machines

Teachers and students all learned something about simple and complex machines last week. Do you know how many different simple machines go together to make a kitchen gadget like a can opener? First we read about the different types of machines in our Science A-Z Machines book "Simple and Complex Machines", and then we tried our hand at making six of the simple machines.


Inclined plane

Pulley

Wheel and axle

Lever

After that our teachers challenged us to use at least 3 of our simple machines to move a table tennis ball up and over a chair and across the carpet. We had lots of fun doing it, but it wasn't easy. Those table tennis balls just did not want to go where we wanted them to.

Now how do we get it to work?

Team L Ready to Go

Going up!

And over ...

Not quite ... never mind, we did our best!

Team M get's underway

Almost!

Team K is almost ready to roll.

That pulley is a tricky contraption ...

Well OK, that part worked anyway.

Finally, after all the fun of making and demonstrating our complex machines it was time to draw and write up our activities. Well done Masterminds!