Physical Science · Engineering Simple Machines
Simple Machines: How Levers and Pulleys Change the Effort
Compare lever and pulley designs with fair tests. Explain how a lower effort can require a greater movement distance, and improve a lifting design using measurements.
Lesson plan
Simple Machines: How Levers and Pulleys Change the Effort
A step-by-step guide to help you teach this lesson.
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Lesson overview
What students will learn
- Identify the pivot, load, and effort in a lever, and distinguish fixed from movable pulleys.
- Compare measured effort force and movement distance in simple-machine models without claiming that machines create energy.
Key science ideas
- A lever rotates about its fulcrum; where force is applied matters.
- Moving the effort farther from the fulcrum may reduce the needed force, while the effort end travels farther.
- A single fixed pulley changes the direction of a pull; it does not by itself promise a smaller pull force.
Lesson at a glance
- Grade 5
- 50 min
- ~12 min prep
- 3-5-ETS1-3
- 7 materials
What’s included
- Lesson Plan
- Investigation
- Teacher Slides
- Printable Worksheet
- Teacher Answer Key
- Interactive Activity
- Vocabulary