Introduction
This WebQuest is geared for grades
3-5.
The different parts of the WebQuest
make for easy separation into different days.
Unit Notes and Process
Part 1
Watch Dr. Skateboard
for an overview of simple machines as they relate to skateboarding.
Part 2
Here is the worksheet to
record definitions and examples for each simple machine.
Here is the answer key for this worksheet.
All of the definitions came from this
site. http://www.mikids.com/Smachines.htm
Part 3
Here is the list of materials for each activity. The directions are found on each link.
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All activities can be done as a demonstration to the class or
can be done by each student.
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To have an increased investigative focus, you can create a
worksheet for each activity that includes going through the scientific process.
Materials:
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three students
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two broom handles
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one ten foot long piece of twine or
rope
Materials:
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5 large washers taped together
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30 cm ruler
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pen
Materials:
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four hard covered books
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a wedge
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a tabletop
Materials:
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empty spool of thread
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string
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paper cup
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20 pennies
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2 pencils
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tape
Materials:
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spring scale
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weight
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ruler (1ft)
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shoebox
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yardstick
Materials:
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pencil
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paper
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colored felt tip marker
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scissors
Part 4
Here the students can find the simple
machines in several different rooms.
Sound is needed for this activity.
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The score card at the end of the
activity will break down which questions the students got right, and which
questions they missed.
http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/index.htm
Part 5
Read this Ag. Mag. about
farm machines and how simple machines have helped farmers out for many years.
Here is the Ag. Mag. quiz.
Here is the answer key to the
quiz.
Part 6
The students will look at common farm
machines on this website.
Print out these farm
machine reference pages and give
one to each group of students.
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There are 10 posters, so you can use
them all or less, depending on how many students you want in each group.
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If you laminate the posters, you can
provide students with dry-erase or over head markers and allow them to circle
the parts of the machine directly on the poster.
Here is the farm machines answer key.
Break the students into groups and
give each group one machine to look at as a group. Students should turn in a list of simple
machines to you.
Part 7
You can assign students new groups,
or assign them into groups of 2. You can
also request student bring in such things as the milk cartons, but you can
provide things like straws, black pipe cleaners, etc.
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Brown construction paper to cover the
milk carton
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Tag board/thin card board for wheels
and headlights
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Milk carton (1 small)
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Straws (3)
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Scissors
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Black pipe cleaner (1)
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Glue and/or tape
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Modeling clay (only small amount per
tractor needed)
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Markers or crayons
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Pencil
Either request students bring in
other materials or provide another variety of materials for students to use
when they personalize their farm tractor.
Read the instructions to the students aloud, and have them construct the tractor
simultaneously, as you go step by step through the construction process.
Students should write a grammatically correct paragraph
explaining about their tractor, what the addition would be able to do, what
simple machines are located in the addition, and how simple machines are
helpful to the farmer.
If you wanted to print a picture of the tractor, you can print
this lesson from this website.
Evaluation
Unit Points Breakdown:
60 points – basics worksheet
25 points – quiz
100 points - tractor
100 points – paragraph
15 points – participation points
The students will write a paragraph
describing their farm equipment. It
should mention every simple machine used in your tractor, as well as describe
its specialty job. They should be sure
to describe why that piece of equipment is important to the farmer, and how it
impacts the amount of production including one example. Each student in the group should write their
own paragraph.
Here is the rubric for grading
the paragraphs.
Here is the rubric to use when grading
the tractors.
SOLs
For a complete listing of the
Virginia Standards of Learning, check the Virginia
DOE website.
Third Grade
Science
3.2
The student will investigate and understand simple machines and
their uses. Key concepts
include
a)
types of simple machines (lever, screw, pulley, wheel and axle,
inclined plane, and wedge);
b)
how simple machines function;
c)
compound machines (scissors, wheelbarrow, and bicycle); and
examples of simple and compound machines found in the school, home, and work
environment.
History
3.7 The student will explain how producers
use natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at
work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings) to produce goods
and services for consumers.
English
3.7 The student will demonstrate comprehension of information from
a variety of print resources.
a)
Use dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, and other
reference books, including online reference materials.
b)
Use available technology.
3.9 The student will
write descriptive paragraphs.
a)
Develop a plan for writing.
b)
Focus on a central idea.
c)
Group related ideas.
d)
Include descriptive details that
elaborate the central idea.
e)
Revise writing for clarity.
Technology
3-5.5 The
student will demonstrate knowledge of technologies that support
collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
·
Work collaboratively when using technology.
·
Understand how technology expands opportunities for learning.
3-5.6 The
student will use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a
variety of sources.
·
Collect information from a variety of sources.
Fourth Grade
History
VS.9 The student will demonstrate knowledge of twentieth century
a) describing the economic and
social transition from a rural, agricultural society to a more urban,
industrialized society, including the reasons people came to
English
4.5 The student will
read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction.
a)
Use text organizers, such as type, headings, and graphics, to
predict and categorize information.
b)
Formulate questions that might be answered in the selection.
c)
Explain the author’s purpose.
d)
Make simple inferences, using information from texts.
e)
Draw conclusions, using information from texts.
f)
Summarize content of selection, identifying important ideas and
providing details for each important idea.
4.7 The student will
write effective narratives, poems, and explanations.
a)
Focus on one aspect of a topic.
b)
Develop a plan for writing.
c)
Organize writing to convey a central idea.
d)
Write several related paragraphs on the same topic.
e)
Utilize elements of style, including word choice and sentence
variation.
f)
Write rhymed, unrhymed, and patterned poetry.
g)
Use available technology.
Technology
3-5.5 The student will
demonstrate knowledge of technologies that support collaboration,
personal pursuits, and productivity.
·
Work collaboratively when using technology.
·
Understand how technology expands opportunities for learning.
3-5.6 The
student will use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a
variety of sources.
·
Collect information from a variety of sources.
Fifth Grade
History
USI.8 The student will
demonstrate knowledge of westward expansion and reform in
c) describing the
impact of inventions, including the cotton gin, the reaper, the steamboat, and
the steam locomotive, on life in
English
5.7 The student will demonstrate
comprehension of information from a variety of print resources.
a)
Develop notes that include important concepts, summaries, and
identification of information sources.
5.8 The student will
write for a variety of purposes: to describe, to inform, to entertain, and to
explain.
a)
Choose planning strategies for various writing purposes.
b)
Organize information.
c)
Demonstrate awareness of intended audience.
d)
Use precise and descriptive vocabulary to create tone and voice.
e)
Vary sentence structure.
f)
Revise writing for clarity.
g)
Use available technology to access information.
Technology
3-5.5 The
student will demonstrate knowledge of technologies that support
collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
·
Work collaboratively when using technology.
·
Understand how technology expands opportunities for learning.
3-5.6 The
student will use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a
variety of sources.
·
Collect information from a variety of sources.
Additional Resources
This website is a database of many
simple machine website.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/simmach.html
You can introduce your students to Rube
Goldberg machines and have them draw their own, or narrate what one does.
This lesson plan, where the tractor
construction originally came from, also has many other activities to tie in
farm equipment and simple machines. It
could be used as a full unit.
http://www.cfaitc.org/LessonPlans/pdf/SimpleComplexMachines/109MachinesInAgriculture.pdf
Book List:
- Farming the Land: Modern Farmers and their
Machines by Jerry
Bushey
- The Science Book of Machines by Neil Ardley
- Making Mad Machines by Jen Greening
- Projects with Machines by John Williams
- Machines at Work by Alan Ward
- Forces and Machines by Sinclair MacLeod
- Machines by Fred
MacLeod
- Simple Machines by Rae Bains
- Make it Work Machines by David Glover
- Levers by Chris
Ollerenshaw and Pat Triggs
- The Big Book of Things That Go by Chris Ollerenshaw and Pat Triggs
- Tools by
- The Toolbox by Anne and
Harlow Rockwell
- Toolbox by Gail
Gibbons
- Bikes by Gail
Gibbons
- Things That Go by Gail Gibbons
- Flight by Robert Burleigh
Credits
This WebQuest was created by Kelly
Henaghan for
Last revised: December, 2008
© 2008 Agriculture in the Classroom; All Rights Reserved