Round and Round - Wheels and Axles

Summary
The reading introduces the children to the concept of the wheel and axle as a simple machine. Activity A requires the children to identify the wheel and axle in as many different objects as possible.

Objectives
• The children will be able to explain how the wheel and axle work as a simple machine.

• The children will be able to identify objects which use the wheel and axle.

Suggested Grades
3rd Grade
4th Grade

Excerpt
Wheels have been around for the last five and a half thousand years. Today, we are so used to them that it is difficult to imagine life without them. But there are many parts of the world where people still use sleds or sleighs to transport things. In areas like Alaska where there is snow and ice on the ground for most of the year, a sled makes a good substitute for a cart and in rural Africa where most people cannot afford trucks or even wagons, wooden sleighs pulled by oxen are still widely used in the grasslands.

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