T E
A C H E R ’ S
N O T E S
Focus:
Students explore pulleys, gears, and other
machines: how they work, why people use them, how
they apply and affect force, movement, and speed.
Students will also learn how machines use different
energy sources and impact the environment.
Learning Goals:
Students will have opportunities to learn
• how to correctly use the terms force, pulley, gear,
load, block and tackle, driver
• that a force is a push or pull
• that pulleys help people move or lift loads by
changing the direction of a force
• that two pulleys (block and tackle) decrease the force
required to move a load but increase the distance over
which the load must be pulled
• that gears can be used to change speed or increase or
decrease a force
• that machines, such as pulleys and gears, make our
lives easier
• how people design machines
• that machines use energy and that energy use
impacts the environment
Discussion Prompts:
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
• What is a force?
• What is a pulley?
• How does a pulley help to move or lift a load?
• What is a block and tackle and how does it help you to
move a load?
• What are gears and how can they help you do tasks?
• How do machines, such as pulleys and gears, make
your life easier?
• What energy sources do we use to power machines?
• What impact does using energy for machines have on
the environment?
Assessment Prompts:
• Do students demonstrate, in their discussions and
answers to questions, understanding of the science
vocabulary used in the cards for this unit?
• Are students able to carry out the skills of scientific
inquiry, following activity procedure steps safely and
accurately, making observations when appropriate?
• Assess students’ responses during discussions.
- Do students understand that a force is a push or a
pull and that forces can be balanced or unbalanced?
- Can students explain what a pulley is and how it
helps move and lift loads?
- Do students understand how two pulleys decrease
the force required to move the load but increase the
distance required to pull the load?
- Can students provide examples of machines that use
gears and how the gears decrease or increase a force?
- Do students recognize how machines make life
easier and can they provide examples of this?
- Do students understand that all machines need a
source of energy, and that energy use has impacts
on the environment?
• Are students able to follow procedures to 1) build a
functioning block and tackle and 2) build and test
different-sized gears?
• Are students able to identify examples of simple
machines in activities?
Links to PCSP Student Book Lighten Your Load :
Card 1:
Card 2:
Card 3:
Card 4:
Card 5:
see Lessons 2 and 4
see Lessons 2–4
see Lessons 5–9, and 10
see Lessons 3-10, and 12
see Lesson 11
Focus:
Students explore forces and
how simple machines use them.
Introduce students
to the topic with the
video that shows
machines lifting and
moving loads. Discuss
the video and any
comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: This
drag-and-drop activity shows
students a “tug-of-war” scenario
to help them grasp the idea of
balanced and unbalanced forces.
Activity Description: This is a
timed drag-and-drop activity in
which students drag objects into the
“gravity” or “non-gravity” columns.
Learning Goals: Students
explore the idea of balanced and
unbalanced forces.
Learning Goal: Students identify
objects that do and do not rely on
gravity for their function.
Ask Students: In a tug-of-war,
what happens if the forces are
balanced? What happens if the
forces are unbalanced?
Ask Students: Choose one object
that relies on gravity: Can you
explain how you know this object
relies on gravity? Can you make a
list of three objects in your home
that rely on gravity to work? Can you
explain how each object needs
gravity to work?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Can students
explain what is happening to
forces when people move in a
tug-of-war and when they don’t
move?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Assessment: Can students find
three examples at home of objects
that rely on gravity to function? Can
students provide adequate
explanations for which objects they
say rely on gravity and which objects
they say do not?
Activity Description:
This is a timed activity, in which
students are provided a description
of the structure and function of the
simple machines. The name of each
simple machine is a “scrambled”
word. Students drag and drop
letters into blank spaces to “descramble” the word and identify the
simple machine.
Learning Goal: Students read
about the structure and function of
six simple machines and then
identify the names of each.
Ask Students: Choose one
simple machine: Can you give an
example of this simple machine and
describe how it works?
Assessment: Can students
identify the names of the simple
machines in the activity? Can
students provide an example and
describe the function of one or more
of the simple machines?
2
Activity Description: Students
construct a cardboard u-shaped ramp in
which they allow one marble to roll and
make contact with other marbles,
ultimately to see the transfer of force
among the marbles. After students have
completed the activity, they click on the
orange icon near the Think question.
Students are taken to an animation of
marbles transferring energy in a u-shaped
ramp, much like what students built in
their activity.
Learning Goals: Students identify the
force of gravity acting on the marbles and
the transfer of energy among the marbles.
Students reinforce their skills of carrying
out a procedure safely, as directed,
including accurately making and recording
observations.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
sk Students: What force acts on the
A
marble when you let it go at the top of
your ramp? (gravity ) What happens to the
energy in the marble when it strikes the
rest of the marbles? (the energy is passed
through each marble )
Assessment: Do students recognize
the force that acts on the marble when
they let it go on the ramp? Can students
describe the idea that energy is
transferred among the marbles when they
make contact? Did students carry out the
procedure safely and accurately, carefully
making and recording their observations?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
3
Focus:
Students explore pulleys and
how they move loads.
Activity Description: A visual and text explain to students that cranes,
outfitted with a pulley system, are used to lift materials to the tops of tall
buildings. Students then click on three possible crane attachments, which
would be used to move specific materials. Students then click on an
additional orange icon, which takes them to an animated screen that
continued next page
describes how tower cranes are built.
Introduce students to the
topic with the video of
a crane working at a
construction site. Discuss
the video and any
comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: Text describes to students the
importance of the invention of the wheel. Students play a
drag-and-drop activity, in which they place historical facts
about wheels into their correct place in a timeline.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Learning Goal: Students explore the importance of the
wheel to human society and some related historical facts.
Ask Students: Why was the wheel important in the past?
(for moving loads ) In what ways did different types of
wheels help people? (to move different kinds of loads for
different forms of transportation ) How do you use wheels in
your everyday life?
Assessment: Can students provide an explanation as to
why the wheel has been important throughout human history?
Ask students to create a list of some ways in which they use
wheels everyday in their lives. Alternatively, students can draw
pictures and label them appropriately.
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Activity Description: Students are asked to look
at images of four scenarios in which pulleys are used
to do a task. They are asked to identify and write
down (electronically, within the activity) how pulleys
are used in each situation. Students are also asked to
write down how they would do each task without a
pulley.
Learning Goals: Students identify and describe
how pulleys are used to do the tasks shown in four
situations. Students will correctly use the terms pulley,
load, and force in their written answers. They also
describe how they might do each task shown in the
photos without pulleys.
Ask Students: Look at each picture in the activity:
What task needs to be done in each picture and how
do pulleys help? How would you do this task without
pulleys? Would the task be easier or harder to do
without pulleys? How do you continued next page
4
continued from page 4 Learning Goals: Students explore the basic
components of a building crane, which enable it to lift materials to the top of a
building. Students also learn how the crane itself is built
Ask Students: What kinds of materials does a crane lift and move? (e.g.,
steel beams) What type of system does a crane use to lift these materials?
(block and tackle) How is a crane built? ( The crane is built section by section as
the building is constructed.)
Assessment: Ask students to write one paragraph with a diagram that
explains 1) the kinds of materials moved by a crane and the type of system it
uses to do this; 2) how a crane is built.
Activity Description: Students use
empty thread spools, a hook, and some
string to make a block and tackle (i.e.,
more than one pulley used together).
Students then click on the orange icon
near the Think question. They are taken
to a screen that explains how two pulleys
reduce the force you exert, but that you
have to pull the load farther: “You pull
with half the force, but for twice as long.”
Students then drag and drop marbles
into a pail to watch an animation of a
block and tackle lifting the load.
Learning Goals: Students review the
idea that pulleys reduce the force used to
move a load, but increase the distance
you have to pull to move the load.
Students reinforce their skills of carrying
out a procedure safely and accurately, as
directed.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Ask Students: How does a block and
tackle help you to move a load? (it
reduces the force you have to exert to
move a load ) When you use a block and
tackle, do you have to pull the load a
shorter or longer distance? (longer )
continued from page 4 use pulleys to make tasks easier in your
life? Can you suggest an example?
Assessment: Are students able to identify and describe how
pulleys are being used in each picture? Did students recognize that
pulleys make each task easier to do? Can students suggest other
examples of how pulleys make tasks easier in their own lives?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Assessment: Can students explain
that the block and tackle system reduces
the force required to move a load but
increases the distance required to pull it?
Did students carry out the procedure
safely and accurately?
5
Focus:
Students explore gears and
how they are used in machines.
Introduce students to the
topic with the video that
shows different-sized
gears working together.
Discuss the video and any
comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: Text
and two animation screens
describe to students how “low”
gears and “high” gears on a bike
help the bike rider adjust the
speed and force required to pedal
in different conditions such as
riding uphill or downhill.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Learning Goals: Students
explore how bicycle gears help a
bike rider to adjust the speed and
force of pedalling in different
circumstances.
Ask Students: Is it easier or
harder to pedal when your bike is
in low gear? Why? (easier; you
don’t have to apply too much
force because the gears don’t
resist your effort very much, but
you have to pedal faster ) In what
kinds of situation could this help
you when you’re riding a bike?
Why? (riding uphill; you have to
continued next page
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Activity Description: Text and
animation introduce students to the
idea that most tools or machines with
spinning parts contain gears. Students
then click on the orange icon and are
taken to an activity in which they are
shown a device. They must select
which type of gear they think is part
of the device. When students click on
the correct answer, they are shown an
animation and description of that type
of gear and how that type of gear
affects force and/or movement and/or
speed.
Learning Goal: Students review
four of the different types of gears—
worm, bevel, spur, and rack and
pinion.
Ask Students: What is the name
of one type of gear? What is one
example of a device that would use
that type of gear? How does the gear
affect force, movement, or speed?
(Encourage students to use the
Activity Description: An
animation shows the internal
gear system of a grandfather
clock. Text describes how gears
of different sizes can move at
different speeds, which allows
the hands of a clock to move at
different speeds.
Learning Goal: Students
explore the idea that differentsized gears make the function of
clocks possible by moving the
minute hand and hour hand at
different speeds.
Ask Students: If two gears
are different sizes, how does that
affect the speed of movement?
(the two gears can be used to
speed up or slow down,
depending on what is required
for the situation)
Assessment: Can students
explain how two gears of
different sizes affect the speed
movement of the gears?
continued next page
6
Internet to find other
continued from page 6
examples of devices that use the gear they describe.)
Assessment: Do students understand how bevel, spur,
worm, and rack and pinion gears function and how they affect
force and movement? Can they provide examples of devices
that use these gears?
Activity Description: Students make and
attach together two gears—one small, one
large. They turn the small gear and count how
many turns it makes to turn the large gear once.
Students repeat this test, turning the large gear.
Learning Goals: Students will expand their
understanding of how two different-sized gears
affect speed and force, depending on which is
the driver gear. Students reinforce their skills of
carrying out a procedure safely and accurately,
as directed.
Ask Students: When the small gear was the
driver, what did you observe? (big gear turns
more slowly ) When the large gear was the
driver, what did you observe? (small gear turns
more quickly )
Assessment: Are students able to construct
and connect their two gears safely and
according to the procedure instructions? Are
they able to explain their observations when
they use the large gear as the driver and then
the small gear as the driver?
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
continued from page 6
pedal fast, but the pedalling is much
easier, which helps you apply the force
necessary to get the bike up the hill ) Is it
easier or harder to pedal when your bike is
in high gear? Why? (harder; you have to
apply more force to the gears, which
makes them harder to turn, but you move
a greater distance in high gear ) In what
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
kind of situation could this help you
when you’re riding a bike? Why? (riding
downhill; you pedal slower, but you travel
a greater distance, plus the force of
gravity on the bike takes you further )
Assessment: Can students explain to
you the difference between high and low
bicycle gears?
7
Focus:
Students explore how machines
improve our lives and how they are designed.
Activity Description: Text and a visual describe how ski lifts,
using pulley systems, take the hard work out of getting up a snowy
mountain to ski down.
Learning Goal: Students explore how machines improve our
lives.
Ask Students: Have you ever gone skiing? Can you imagine
climbing up a hill with your skis and poles, wearing all your winter
clothes? What kind of simple machine does a ski lift use? Can you
think of another device that uses pulleys to improve our lives?
continued next page
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Activity Description: Text and a visual describe how friction can
cause moving parts of machines to wear and slow down. Students click
on another orange icon, which takes them to a timed drag-and-drop
activity. Students drag and drop pictures of objects that either “grip” or
“slip” into the correct category.
Learning Goal: Students explore friction as a force and specifically
as a force that affects the function of moving parts in machines.
Ask Students: Why does it help to oil parts of machines? (to
reduce friction) Why would you want to reduce friction in a machine?
(to keep the parts working smoothly without slowing down or wearing
continued next page
out as quickly)
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Introduce students to the
topic with the video of a ski
lift. Discuss the video and
any comments or questions
students may have.
Activity Description: Text and
visuals introduce students to four
sketches of designs for devices by
Leonardo da Vinci.
Learning Goal: Students explore
the imagination that scientists and
designers put into designing machines.
And, in the case of da Vinci, students
can see imagined machines that would
not be built for hundreds of years after
the designs were originally sketched.
continued next page
8
continued from page 8
Assessment: Do students recognize that friction can wear and slow
down the moving parts of a machine? Are they able to identify objects
that “grip” and “slip” in the drag-and-drop activity?
Activity Description: Students identify
the different types of simple machines that are
found in an illustration of a park. Students click on
an orange icon to play a drag-and-drop activity.
They drag and drop labels of simple machines onto
the simple machines they identify in the illustration.
Learning Goal: Students review their knowledge
of simple machines by identifying examples and
writing about how they are used.
Ask Students: Which simple machines have you
used before that are like the ones shown
in the fun park? Are there any other amusement park
rides you’ve been on or any other toys you’ve used
that are not shown in the illustration? What are they
and which simple machines do you think they use?
Assessment: Are students able to accurately
identify most or all of the examples of simple machines
shown in the illustration? Do students write down
explanations for how the simple machines are used in
each example they identify?
Assessment:
Do students recognize how ski lifts, and pulley
systems in general, help improve our lives?
Ask students to make a list of five devices that
improve their lives and to describe how each
device makes the task or job easier to do.
Alternatively, students can draw pictures with
appropriate labels of the devices that improve
their lives.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
continued from page 8
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
Ask Students: Why do you
think it is important to sketch designs for machines before
you build them? Do any of Leonard da Vinci’s sketches look
like machines that exist today? Which ones?
continued from page 8
Assessment: Do students recognize the importance of
creating sketches of designs? Do students recognize that
designing and building machines takes imagination and
careful thought? Ask students to write one paragraph that
describes one schoolyard game or one class project they did
which took imagination and thought to create.
9
Focus:
Students explore energy sources used by
machines and the impact this has on the environment.
Activity Description: Text describes how chopping wood uses muscle power
and a chainsaw uses energy from fossil fuels. Students click on the orange icon
near the illustration of the shed and play a drag-and-drop activity to identify
tools that use muscle power and tools that use energy from fossil fuels. Students
click on the orange icon near the Think question, “How are fossil fuels
formed...?”. Visuals and text describe to students how fossil fuels were formed
and how people drill for it under water from oil platforms.
Learning Goals: Students explore the idea that some tasks and tools use
human muscle power, while other tasks and tools are powered by fossil fuels.
Students explore fossil fuel: what it is, how it was formed, and how it is
extracted from underwater sources.
Ask Students: Make a chart that contains answers to these three questions:
What tasks do you do at home that use muscle power? What machines do you
use at home that use electricity or
burn gasoline for their source of
energy? Are there tasks that use
both your muscle power and a
machine? Can you describe to a
partner how oil was formed and
how we drill for it under water?
Introduce students to the topic
with the video that shows
people using escalators. Discuss
the video and any comments or
questions students may have.
Assessment: Are students able
to accurately identify tools and
tasks that require muscle power
and those which require fossil fuels,
or combinations of the two? Can
students clearly explain how oil was
formed and how we drill for it under
water?
Activity Description: A drag-and-drop activity asks students to
identify the pros and cons of using stairs.
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Learning Goals: Students explore competing reasons for using stairs
and for using powered people-movers such as escalators and elevators.
Video: Robots
weld car parts
in a factory.
Ask Students: What are some reasons for using stairs rather than an
elevator? (good exercise, lower impact on environment ) What are some
reasons to use elevators and escalators rather than stairs? (good for
people who are physically disabled, elderly, or to move heavy objects
upstairs, or to travel up several storeys in a building)
Assessment: Are students able to identify some different reasons for
using stairs or for using escalators and elevators?
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
10
Activity Description: Text describes how energy cannot be destroyed, only converted or
transformed into other forms of energy. Students are asked to make a list of machines that
people use to move or “go places.” Students click on the orange icon at the right of the screen
and play a drag-and-drop activity in which they create energy flowcharts—all of which begin
with the sun as the first source of energy. Students click on the orange icon near the Think
question. They are taken to a screen that describes how bicycles are the most efficient peoplemoving machines. Students then play a drag-and-drop activity in which they learn about
bicycles from different time periods while placing the vehicles in correct chronological
sequence.
Learning Goals: Students explore energy chains and how muscle and machine power all
derive their energy first from the sun. Students expand their understanding of bicycles—their
efficient use of energy and their place in history.
Ask Students: When you eat an apple, does your body “destroy” the food energy or does
your body convert the food energy into a different form of energy? (convert ) Can you draw
your own energy flowcharts, using different examples than shown in the drag-and-drop
activity? Why are bicycles such a good form of transportation compared to driving a car or
even walking? ( Bicycles are very efficient at converting most of the energy inputs into
movement energy—the main purpose of the bike.)
© Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2010
Assessment: Do students recognize that energy
cannot be destroyed, only converted (or transformed)
into other forms of energy? Can students create energy
flowcharts, accurately identifying examples, which
always begin with the sun as the main energy source?
Do students understand what is meant by a bicycle
being a very efficient machine? (able to convert most
energy put into it into movement energy )
PCSP Interactive Science Teacher’s Notes
11