Gears, levers and pulleys
Watch how gears, levers and pulleys work as simple machines which help us move things more easily. Try an interactive activity or build your own simple levers and pulleys. Included is teacher subject knowledge to support teachers for whom this is a new topic area.
This curriculum area is in the programme of study in Year 5. Children are required to learn that force and motion can be transferred through mechanical devices such as gears, pulleys, levers and springs.
Machines and Engines
Pages 6-9 on the pdf show pictures of levers and pulleys with suggested questions to stimulate thinking and discussion in class. It also shows diagrams of lever and pulley systems which could be set up in class for children to investigate. This investigation would help children understand that if you want to lift a big load with a smaller effort, the load must be nearer the pivot than the effort is.
This is an older resource with some good ideas more up to date images could be sourced from the internet. The resource is designed for lower secondary but can be adapted so children explore and observe the effects of simpe machines on movement. The subject knowledge is this topic is useful for non-specialist science teachers for whom this is a new topic.
Simple machines
Trying to pick up a large heavy box is difficult, however if a lever is used it becomes much easier to move it. This is because levers make it easier to move objects as they allow for a smaller force to be applied over a longer distance. This short video demonstrates how levers, gears and pulleys work. A 'Scientist' demonstrates how different simple machines work and helps reinforce key vocabulary in context. It is interspersed with clips showing these simple machines in action in the real world and children demonstrating pulleys and levers. Children could create design and create their own simple machines and explain how they help move objects.
How do levers work?
A short video from the BBC Learning zone which shows how levers work using tug of war equipment. When the girls are unevenly matched with the boys, they discover that moving the rope gives them more pulling power with less effort. Children could replicate the investigations with balloons and weights, or devise their own experiments to test some of the themes this sequence introduces.
Wheels and Levers
Provides subject knowledge for teachers on simple machines which make work and movement easier by changing the speed or force of movement.
GIve it a lift with a lever
Develop understanding of how levers work in this online activity. It includes a short clip, activity ideas and background knowledge for teachers.
Carry out an investigation trying to move a large object using a lever. Children oftern think the best place to put the fulcrum is in the centre of the lever rather than closer to the object being moved.
Teaching and Understanding Science
A useful older resource which could be used by teachers who wish to refresh their subject knowledge on key scientifc knowledge.
Pages 120-122 on the pdf offer subject knowledge about energy for movement for teachers. Subject knowledge at Key Stage Two on the topic of forces including many key concepts may be found from page 110 onwards.
