Students can bring common toys from home like a bicycle, car or toy house. A chart is drawn with the name of the toy in the first column, the next six columns have the names of the six simple machines and the last column has the total count. This chart is given to the students. With your help, students observe the toys carefully and note down the types and numbers of simple machines used therein. You can explain the workings of the machines. This project gives fifth graders the first-hand experience of closely observing how simple machines work.
Students are divided into groups of four. Each group selects one common appliance, such as a wheelbarrow, lawn mower, scissors, can opener, cheese grater, pencil sharpener, doorknob, staircase, slides or seesaw. Students collect data suitable for their age on these appliances and the type of simple machines used in them. They can prepare posters on the type of machines, how they function in the appliance and how it helps people in simplifying their work. The posters can be made attractive by pasting pictures of the appliance, the simple machines within and the application.
The functioning of a simple lever can be demonstrated using a board, a small can and some heavy books. The can acts as the fulcrum, which supports the board. Five books are stacked on one end of the board and other books are added to the opposite end until the weight is enough to lift the end having the five books. Students observe how much easier it is to lift a heavy object -- the five books in this case -- with the help of a lever instead of lifting it manually. The position of the can is shifted to demonstrate how the position of the fulcrum affects the working of the lever.
To make a simple car, four plastic bottle caps are used, which act as wheels. A hole is drilled into each cap. A straw is cut into two and one half of is stuck on the shorter side of a 5.9-by-3-inch piece of thick cardboard. Stick the other half on the other side. Skewers are inserted through the straws to act as the car axle. The skewers are attached to the wheels through the holes and fixed firmly. The longer part of a bent straw is cut to the same length as its shorter part. Using a rubber band, a balloon is attached to one end of the bent straw. The bent straw is taped to the cardboard firmly. Air is blown through the other end of the straw. Once the balloon is inflated, the straw is released. The air gushing out from the balloon provides the force for the car to move in the opposite direction.