Grade 3 · Science · Unit 5 of 15
Simple Machines
Levers, wheels and ramps make work easier.
What your child practises
How levers, wheels and axles, and inclined planes change the strength or direction of a force, including tools designed and used by First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 3E1.2 · simple machines such as levers, wheels and inclined planes
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
You want to roll a heavy log. Which can help?
🪵- tie it with ribbon
- wrap it in paper
- add water to it
- put round logs underneath as rollers
Show answer
put round logs underneath as rollers
Hint: Rolling reduces rubbing, like a wheel.
Question 2
A bicycle wheel turns on a bar called an…
🚲- wedge
- ramp
- fulcrum
- axle
Show answer
axle
Hint: The axle goes through the middle of the wheel.
Question 3
A simple machine can change a force's…
➡️- weight of the Earth
- taste
- colour
- strength or direction
Show answer
strength or direction
Hint: Machines can make a force bigger or point it somewhere else.
Question 4
Why is it easier to push a heavy box up a ramp than to lift it straight up?
📦- ramps pull the box
- the ramp spreads the work over a longer path
- the box gets lighter
- ramps make boxes disappear
Show answer
the ramp spreads the work over a longer path
Hint: A longer path takes less push.
Question 5
A wheel and axle helps things…
🛞- freeze
- roll
- melt
- grow
Show answer
roll
Hint: Wheels roll with less rubbing than sliding.
Question 6
A longer ramp is less steep. Pushing a load up it takes…
📏- no force at all
- more force over a shorter distance
- less force over a longer distance
- the same force over no distance
Show answer
less force over a longer distance
Hint: A gentle ramp is easier to push up, but it is longer.