The Dance Component of Simple Machines

During the shared planning phase of the unit, the students thought that it would be fun to create a dance that demonstrated how simple machines worked (moved) and were used in everyday life. As a class they brainstormed different types of machines that they wanted included and how these might be performed. While the entire dance is not shown here with the students in costume, this short movie clip provides you with an example of how we worked together to put our 'Simple Machines' dance together.

Question and Answer Time

Before undertaking our planned 'Technology Challenge' which necessitated creating a vehicle (using recycled materials) that would move independently down an inclined plane, the students shared their understanding about concepts covered earlier in the unit. This information confirmed the extend to which critical knowledge had been transferred to the student and could effectively be applied during the technology challenge phase.

The Roof Goes On - Pulleys in Action

Here we are observing a moment in our school's history. A pulley is lifting the roof structure into position. We were really excited to be there to witness it. We noticed the construction workers using a number of simple machines to make their workload easier.

Our Unit on Simple Machines

We have completed a large percentage of our unit on Simple Machines and believe that the time is right to share some of our completed work with you. Our 'Simple Machines Book' takes you on a journey through our unit. While as students we contributed much to the direction the unit took, this book provides both you (parents and viewers) and us (students) with an opportunity to reflect on the Inquiry process required to produce this work. There are additional movies included on our Blog that were filmed as part of our learning process. If you cannot view the book or movies please add a comment.

We hope that you enjoy sharing this work with us. Please feel free to provide feedback.