Lesson 46 of 84 · Simple Machines

Experiment⭐ 30 XP🛠️ Engineer Shop

Up and Down the Slide (Part 2)

🧪Lab Brief #46

Simple Machines.

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

The first design always fails. That's the point.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🚀 The Saturn V rocket burned 20 tons of fuel per second at liftoff.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: what's the weakest part of this build?

What You'll Learn

A seesaw goes up and down. Push down on one side and the other side goes up!

Key Words

wheel
ramp
magnet

Materials Needed

ruler
cardboard
marbles
paper clips
rubber bands

Safety First

Do not mix unknown chemicals together.
Tie back long hair before starting the experiment.
Protect your work surface with newspaper or plastic.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Have a grown-up read about Simple Machines to you.

Step 2 — Do

Push a toy car gently, then push it hard. Which push made it go farther?

Step 3 — Observe

Look closely! What do you see?

Step 4 — Record

Draw a picture of what you learned today.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What makes a ball roll?

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

🌍

Where you see this in real life

Every bridge, building, and gadget you've ever used started with this.

🏆

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find something that's broken at home and try to figure out *why* it broke.

👨‍👩‍👧

For the dinner table

“What's something around the house you'd redesign — and how?”

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

🪨Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

🖨️

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