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Lesson · Grade 5 · Science

Complex Machines: Simple Machines Working Together

  • Grade 5
  • Science
  • 1 min 1 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC5-SC-12

A labelled bicycle builds up step by step as question marks turn into the simple machines hidden in it: each wheel and the pedals are a wheel and axle, the brake lever is a lever, and a screw holds the seat post. The bicycle then rides, with the pedals turning the front gear, the chain turning the back wheel and the brake lever slowing it down, and it ends on the recap that a complex machine is simple machines working together.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

What makes a bicycle a complex machine?

Let's find the simple machines inside it.

Transcript

What the lesson says

What makes a bicycle a complex machine?

Let's find the simple machines inside it.

Each wheel turns on an axle at its centre.

Together they make a simple machine called a wheel and axle.

The pedals turn an axle too, so they make another wheel and axle.

The brake lever on the handlebar is a simple machine called a lever.

Screws hold parts together, and a screw is a simple machine too.

A complex machine is made of two or more simple machines.

Push the pedals, and the front gear turns.

The chain carries the turning to the back wheel.

So the bicycle rolls forward.

Squeeze the brake lever, and the brakes grip the wheel to slow it down.

A complex machine is simple machines working together, like this bicycle.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 5

Science, Physics: machines: constructedBC5-SC-12

Previous: Ramps, Wedges and ScrewsNext: Your Arm Is a Lever

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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