A large assortment of LEGOs are needed for these lessons. Pieces that come from Bionicle Sets are especially useful, in addition to simple bricks and wheels, for creating some of the simple machines. Give students several medium-sized LEGO base plates, as well as long thin flat pieces, or Bionicle pieces that can be made to shape triangles. Ask them to construct a simple inclined plane. Use their creations to show how it makes it easier to do "work." Let them use a LEGO mini figure or micro figure to push a wheel up the inclined plane to demonstrate its usefulness.
Let students assemble the wheels onto tires to make the lesson even more hands-on. Use assorted axles to push through the wheels and attach to a brick made to hold them, or just have the students hold the axles in their hands. Let them brainstorm how wheels make doing work easier. Use pieces from a LEGO Creationary set to have students use their wheels to make more complex machines. They may be surprised at what familiar objects other than vehicles contain wheels. Examples include rotary telephones, fan blades, pencil sharpeners, a hand egg beater and roller skates.
A simple fulcrum can be created by stacking up LEGO bricks to create a mini-pyramid. Use a small base plate to create the lever, and use a small square of bricks as the load. Use pieces from the LEGO Creationary set to make scissors, a hammer, pliers, a seesaw and a stapler. Ask students to discuss how these objects are types of levers.
A wedge is somewhat similar to an inclined plane, but a wedge moves and an inclined plane always remains stationary. A pair of inclined planes facing each other and moving opposite of one another can create tremendous force and motion. Students can easily build a wedge out of LEGO bricks by creating two large triangular shapes that are the inverse of each other, and can be set atop one another. Use the LEGO Creationary pieces to build wedges such as a fork, knife or axe.