Viva Education: Simple Machines

For hands-on activities about force, work, wheels, pulleys, and inclined planes that connect science with real life, choose Simple Machines. This book, designed with good science and easy teaching in mind, covers these concepts: work is done when a force is used to move something over a distance, some jobs take more work that other jobs, machines make work easier, machines may have few, many, or no moving parts, the lever is a simple machine, the wheel and axle is a simple machine, the pulley is a simple machine, the inclined plane is a simple machine, the screw is a simple machine, the wedge is a simple machine. Activities help children practice skills in: observation, analysis, communication, making comparisons, prediction, critical thinking, and recording. Areas of study address major themes such as: change, structure, function, cycles, diversity, and cause and effect. Samples of the hands-on learning experiences: