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See Saw Switcheroo

Playground Physics

Simple machines are all around us. Students will learn what they are and how they're used in playground equipment, then create an example of a playground apparatus.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Recycled Cardboard

Steps

  • Step 1

    Explain that simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that can modify force and motion to make work easier. Ask students if they can name the six simple machines: lever, inclined plane, wheel and axle, screw, wedge, and pulley. Now ask if they can name playground equipment that employs some of them. For example, a seesaw is a lever that rests on a fulcrum, a slide is an inclined plane, a merry-go-round uses a wheel and axle, etc.

  • Step 2

    Have students work in pairs or small groups to create a replica of a playground aparatus. They can use recycled cardboard or other recycled materials to design the equipment as well as Air-Dry Clay to sculpt the children or creatures who play on it.

  • Step 3

    Have each pair or group present their playground piece and describe the simple machine it illustrates.

Standards

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

LA: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

SCI: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

SCI: Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

VA: Students will investigate, plan and work through materials and ideas to make works of art and design.

VA: Students demonstrate the understanding that art communicates about and helps viewers understand the natural and constructed world.

Adaptations

Have students collaborate to design a playground for the community. What equipment would they feature? Would there be a theme? What safety precautions would have to be addressed?

Challenge students to create a list of simple machines in everyday life, either at home or in the community. They might come up with pulleys in supermarket conveyor belts, wheels and axles on forms of transportation, inclined ramps on buildings for stroller or wheelchair use, etc.