These simple machines flash cards help 1st-3rd grade students learn the six simple machines with diagram cards and everyday object cards. Answer key included.
Push, pull, roll and lift!
First graders learn that machines are tools that help us do work, like moving or lifting things. They meet simple machines they already use every day: a ramp helps move a heavy box, a wheel helps a wagon roll and a lever like a seesaw lifts a friend. They also learn that pushes and pulls make things move. The click moment is when a child sees a slide and says, "That's a ramp! It's a machine!"
First graders learn machines best by naming them and trying them.
Hold up a flash card and ask "What machine is this? Where have you seen one?" Kids connect the picture to things at home, like a doorknob or a wagon.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withSimple Machines Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →Make a ramp with a book and roll a toy car down. Then make it steeper. Kids see how a ramp helps things move, and they love the races.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Mix simple and compound machine cards and sort them as a class. Show how a wheelbarrow has a wheel and a lever. Kids are surprised that machines can team up!
Why it works: mixing different kinds of problems in one practice set helped students do far better on a later test (Rohrer and Taylor, 2007).
Try it withSimple and Compound Machines Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →They learn that machines help us do work and meet simple ones like ramps, wheels and levers. They also learn that pushes and pulls make things move.
Say it is a tool that makes work easier. Show a ramp, a wheel or a seesaw and let them try moving something with and without it.
Doorknobs, scissors, wagons, bikes, can openers and stairs all use simple machines. Ask your child to find one in every room.
A push moves something away from you, and a pull moves something toward you. Both are forces that make things move.
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