Lesson 61 of 84 · Simple Machines

Experiment⭐ 30 XP🛠️ Engineer Shop

Push and Pull! (Part 3)

🧪Lab Brief #61

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 push moves things away from you. A pull brings things closer. Can you push a toy car across the table?

Key Words

push
pull
fast

Materials Needed

marbles
paper clips
rubber bands

Safety First

Keep small objects away from young children.

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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