NJPEP: Virtual Academy (New Jersey Professional Education Port)

••Classroom Activity by NJ Educators••

**Title and Author**

Create A Gadget!
A Simple Machine/compound machine activity.

Name: Heidi Wagner
School: S. Harrison Elementary School
District: S. Harrison/Kingsway District
County: Gloucester

**Objectives**

**Standard**

The students will be able to create a gadget that consists of at least one simple machine. The students will be able to identify the simple machine(s) in their gadget and explain how their gadget makes work easier.

Standard 5.1.4.A.1

** Goal/Overview/Purpose/Summary**

The students will create a gadget from a group of materials that will consist of at least one simple machine. They will answer the following questions:

What simple machine(s) is/are in your gadget?
How does your gadget make work easier?
How could you change your gadget so that it could do other tasks?

In a cooperative group, students use the supplied materials to create a gadget. The gadget must consist of at least one simple machine and make work easier.

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**Activity**

Materials

Lesson materials: Gadgets from home: manual can opener, salad tongs, pastry cutter, meat baller, etc. Digital camera, optional.

Materials: "Mystery bags." (Grocery sack size) Recommended filler materials for each bag: egg carton, string, dowels, masking tape, plastic lids, toilet paper tubes, rubber bands, brads, paper clips (jumbo and small), straws, sponge, clay, scissors, buttons, large beads or marbles, etc.

*Note: Before the lesson, group students in teams of four or five for optimal participation/interaction. Review jobs/duties of each team member (e.g., recorder - responsible for recording important group information; team leader - keeps everyone on task, makes sure all are participating; announcer - will be presenting project to the class, must be able to answer all lesson questions based on group's discussion; materials person - gathers and returns all unused materials, etc.)

Procedure

Ask students to identify the six simple machines (lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, wheel and axle, pulley). List on the board.
Show students gadgets from home (listed in the lesson materials), and have students identify the simple machines in each (e.g., salad tongs - levers).
Have students explain the purpose of each item and how it makes work easier.
Before distributing bags, explain the purpose of the activity: Students are to make a gadget that consists of one or more simple machines, and will make work easier.
Tell students that they are to use only the items in the bag.
Tell students that they will have 15 - 20 minutes to construct their gadgets.
Inform them that they must work cooperatively in roles previously assigned, while working toward the goal of creating a group gadget.
Distribute "mystery bags"!
Circulate to each group encouraging group members, and guiding them towards the main purpose. (Note: If a group completes their project in less time, challenge them to make individual gadgets with the remaining materials.)
After 20 minutes, have students stop and share their gadgets. During the presentation, each group should identify their gadget, list the simple machine(s) it contains, and tell how it makes work easier. (*Optional: take a picture of each group with their gadget to be sent home with the rubric.)
After the presentations, in their science journals, have students draw their gadget, then answer the following questions: What simple machine(s) is/are in your gadget?, How does your gadget make work easier?, How could you change your gadget so that it could do other tasks?

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**Assessment**

Rubric for Simple Machine Project:

4 Full accomplishment	3 Substantial accomplishment	2 Partial accomplishment	1 Little accomplishment
- demonstrates full understanding and use of the central concepts and ideas.	- demonstrates essential understanding of the central ideas and concepts.	- demonstrates partial but limited understanding of the central concepts and ideas.	- demonstrates little or no understanding of the central ideas and concepts.
- gadget demonstrates clear thinking and explanation of objective.	- gadget shows clear thinking but some pieces may be missing.	- gadget shows grasp of the main project requirements, but may be incomplete, misdirected, or unclear.	- gadget is difficult to correlate to objectives.
- all work is complete and correct.	- the main thrust of the project and science behind it is understood but there may be some minor misunderstanding of content, errors, or weakness in the final product.	- partially achieves project goals, a limited grasp of requirements is demonstrated.	- little progress toward accomplishing the goals of the project due to lack of understanding or lack of effort.
- all duties of assigned team member role performed.	- performed nearly all duties.	- performed very few duties.	- did not perform any duties of assigned role.