Lesson 62 of 84 · Simple Machines

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Things That Roll (Part 3)

🧪Lab Brief #62

Simple Machines.

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

Constraints make you more creative, not less.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🛠️ The first computer bug was a literal moth stuck inside a machine in 1947.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Before you test: how many tries until it works?

What You'll Learn

Things with wheels roll easily. That is why wagons have wheels!

Key Words

push
pull
fast

Materials Needed

pencils
toy cars
ramps
string

Safety First

Handle glass items carefully to avoid breakage.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Talk about Simple Machines with a grown-up. What do you already know?

Step 2 — Do

Try pulling a wagon with one hand, then two hands. Which is easier?

Step 3 — Observe

What happened? Tell a grown-up what you noticed.

Step 4 — Record

Tell a grown-up your favorite part of the activity.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What do wheels help us do?

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

🌍

Where you see this in real life

Your phone, your bike, your shoes — all designed with this idea.

🏆

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Build something — anything — out of stuff in your recycling bin.

👨‍👩‍👧

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.

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Share this experiment

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

🖨️

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