Simple Machines Booklet
Simple Machines Unit – Now 50+ pages!
I have just added a new activity to the Simple Machines Packet! This is a booklet all about the six types of simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, inclined plane, wedge, pulley and screw. It also covers the three classes of levers.
Kids can trace the key words and color in the pictures. The simple machines booklet is 14 half-pages. (Directions on how to put the booklet together are provided.)
As you can see from the pictures there is tracing and various pictures that kids can color. My daughter is really enjoying science booklets these days, so I’ve been adding them to our units. 🙂
Be sure to print out the simple machines booklet out ONE-sided. Then, fold the pages in half, stack them (note the page numbers on each half-page), and staple them together on the left-hand side.
Note: If you purchased the Simple Machines Packet previously, be sure to check your PayPal email address for the update email with your download link! (Or contact me if you need help accessing that!)
Simple Machines Hands-On Activities:
The simple machines unit is such a fun unit because there are so many hands-on activities they can do. My youngest has done several new engineering challenges related to this unit. She’s 11, so if you have younger kids these activities might be ones you do together as a family!
Wheel and Axle Hands-on Activities: She did two related to the wheel and axle. She built her own car with tea lights, Q-tips and a paper towel roll. She also build a paddleboat with Popsicle sticks and a hot glue gun.
Pulley Hands-on Activities: Her other project was making window blinds. She did a great job! It took her almost 5 days to put this together, but I have to say I didn’t help her at all (not even with suggestions or anything!)
Let me add in some pictures of the other notebook pages and activities that are included in our Simple Machines Packet.
Simple Machines Interactive Notebook Activity:
Here is a screen shot of some of the notebook pages and activities in this packet. Plus, I included some of the hands-on activities our family did when we did this unit!
We incorporated a lot of hands-on activities into this unit! My kids loved these!! Photos and instructions are included in our Simple Machines Packet.
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Simple Machines Packet Quick Preview
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We spent quite a bit of time on the three classes of levers and did lots of hands-on activities about levers. You will find links to some of our other hands-on activities below.
Sorting Activity:
As I said above, when we did this unit, my youngest was in preschool and my older two were in early elementary. We had so much fun with all the hands-on activities that go along with it! I’ll link to some of the hands-on activities we did. (Descriptions of our hands-on activities are included on pages 38 to 42 of the packet, as well.)
The new interactive notebook pages are on pages 49 to 54.
Hands-On Activities from Our Simple Machines Unit:
- Simple Machines Unit: Hands-On Activities on Levers
- wedges
- screws (including the Archimedes screw)
- pulleys – probably the kids’ favorite day!
- wheel and axel
Some of the books we used for this unit:
The first book we read was How Do You Lift a Lion? (Affiliate link) It was a great way to introduce several of the simple machines (lever, wheel and axle, pulley)
We read about levers first from a science book and also read Scoop, Seesaw, and Raise: A Book About Levers (Affiliate Link)
We read the book, Archimedes and the Door of Science along with this unit. What a terrific book and what a remarkable man Archimedes was! The book talks about the Archimedes screw as well as lots of other topics — astronomy, math, geometry and more. We loved the imagery of Archimedes pulling a massive ship with pulleys and of course the description of the irrigation screw. I highly recommend this book, but it’s probably better suited to older elementary (grades 3-6).
The Archimedes screw was a machines used to transfer water to irrigation ditches.
It traditionally looks like this…
So that’s it for today. I just wanted to be sure to pass the word along about this update.
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Happy Homeschooling!
~Liesl
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
P.S. Here are some of the other science booklets my daughter has been working on lately. She really likes these! The 3 new environmental studies packets will be coming out soon! The Water Cycle, Trash & Recycling, and Renewable & Nonrenewable Energy.
