A fun and visual demonstration of the function of levers in a simple machine
This is a crafty project that can be done in the classroom and is a fun way to demonstrate the use of both fixed and moving pivots in a simple machine.
Materials that you will need:
- Bristol board
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Colouring pencils, markers or crayons
- Glue
- Scissors
- 3 paper fasteners
- A cutting mat or board
- A sharp point like the point of a compass
How to prepare the pieces that you will need:
With the ruler draw and cut out of the cardboard:
- A rectangle measuring 22cm x 2cm. Mark a point (A) in the centre (11cm from each end)
- A rectangle measuring 12cm x 2cm. From one end of the rectangle mark points at the 1cm (A), 4.5cm (B) and the 11cm (C) points.
Also from the same cardboard draw and cut out:
- A large lily pad shape with a diameter of 12cm. Mark a point (B) in centre
- Small lily pad diameter 3cm
- Small flower about 4cm in diameter. Mark a point in the center.
- A frog shape about 6cm length. Mark (C) in middle
- A fly shape about 2cm long.
How to put your machine together:
- Colour in the frog, the fly, the flower and the two lily pads
- Lay the card shapes on the cutting mat so as not to damage the table, carefully punch small holes at all the marked points with the sharp point. The holes need to be large enough to fit the paper fasteners through.
- Line up hole (A) in the long strip of card with the hole (A) in the short strip at right angles. Join these two points with a paper fastener.
- Put another paper fastener through the hole in the center of the flower. Then continue through hole (B) in the large lily pad and then through hole (B) in the short strip of card.
- Now, attach the frog to the end of the short strip through both holes (C) in the frog and the end of the short strip of card..
- Glue the little lily pad shape onto the end of the long card strip sticking out at the left of the large lily pad and the fly at the other end so that the frog is facing the fly.
- Gently pull the little lily pad and watch the frog jump at the little fly.
Possible Extensions:
Once the basic concept of the project is explained encourage the students to design their own instead of all producing the same final product. They still need to incorporate the use of the levers but they could use different animals or situations. For example they could design a cat pouncing on a mouse or a carpenter hammering a nail.
The copyright of the article Crafty Lever Project in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Elizabeth Pace. Permission to republish Crafty Lever Project in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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