Levers Videos, Websites, and Activities

A LEVER is a simple machine that is a BAR that turns on a fixed point called the FULCRUM.

A lever is used to move or lift things. 

Examples: seesaw, pry bar, hockey stick, boat oar, baseball bat, bottle opener, human arm, hoe, broom, wall light switch, claw end of hammer, catapult

Lever Videos

Here are 3 videos from the Gamequarium website:

• Lever from Eureka

• Dr.Skateboard's Action Science-Simple Machine

• Mad Scientist-Simple Machines - Part 4 - Lever

Lever Websites

• http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/simple_machines/lever.ht

• http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:How_Things_Work/Lever 

Lever Activities

Activity 1

Materials

• 12 inch ruler (lever arm or bar)
• book (load)
• pencil or rectangular eraser (fulcrum)

Directions

• Place the pencil (or eraser) on the table. The pencil will be the fulcrum.
• Place the ruler directly over the pencil so that the middle of the ruler (the 6 inch mark) is directly over the pencil. The ruler will be the lever arm.
• Place the book on one end of the ruler. The book will be the load.
• Try to raise the book by pressing down on the other end of the ruler.

                          __________________________________________________

• Move the pencil (fulcrum) so that it is under the 9 inch mark on the ruler (lever arm).
• Predict if it will be easier or harder to raise the book (the load).
• Try to raise the book by pressing down on the opposite end of the ruler.
• What happened? Was your prediction correct?

                   _____________________________________________________

• Move the ruler (fulcrum) so that it is under the 3 inch mark on the ruler (lever arm).
• Predict if it will be easier or harder to raise the book (load).
• Try to raise the book by pressing down on the opposite end of the ruler.
• What happened? Was your prediction correct?
• What did you learn? In which position was it easiest to raise the book? Why?

Explanation: It was easiest to raise the book (the load) when the pencil (fulcrum) was the closest to the book (the load) because the closer the load is to the fulcrum the easier it is to move the load.

Activity 2

• Sketch a picture of Activity 1. Label the lever arm, fulcrum, and load.
• Explain the results of activity 1 (oral or written).

Activity 3

• Brainstorm and list as many simple or compound machines as you can think of that are levers or consist of levers. (A hockey stick is a lever and simple machine. A scissors is a complex machine.  ----- It has 2 levers and 2 wedges.)
• Make a poster about levers. Give your poster a title in bold letters. Give a definition of a lever. Include 6 or more pictures of levers. (Draw pictures, locate pictures in magazines or catalogs, or look online for clipart.)

Activity 4

Use levers.

• Play hockey.
• Play baseball.
• Sit on a seesaw with a friend.
• Use a hoe in the garden.
• Etc. (Have fun with levers!)

Have fun with machines!