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Grade 4 Science · World 9: Machine Workshop · Level 59
Ramps, Wedges, and Screws
Explain inclined planes, wedges, and screws, and how they're related.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
What children learn in Level 59
- An inclined plane is a flat, slanted surface, like a ramp. Sliding a box up a ramp is easier than lifting it straight up.
- A wedge is thick at one end and thin at the other, like two ramps back to back. An axe is a wedge: it pushes wood apart.
- A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a post. Turn it, and the spiral ridge pulls it into the wood.
- These three are cousins! All of them use a slanted surface. Jar lids and light bulbs use screws too.
- Try it with a grown-up: cut a paper triangle, then wrap it around a pencil. The slanted edge makes a spiral, just like a screw.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:
- S4P3.c — Ask questions to identify and explain the uses of simple machines (lever, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, wheel and axle, and screw) and how forces are changed when simple machines are used to complete tasks. (Clarification statement: The use of mathematical formulas is not expected.)