World Book for Kids

WBFK has a main entry on machine and several entries on each of the types of simple machines, e.g. pulley.

Inventor's Toolbox

Excellent introduction to a variety of simple machines accompanied by great colour pictures.  Requires reading at grade level.  Links to a page where students identify the simple machines that make up a more complex machine and to a drawing activity.  This page is part of a series on Leonardo da Vinci.

Edheads Simple Machines Glossary

This online glossary contains definitions and pictures for the main types of simple machines.

Harcourt Science Up Close Simple Machines Lessons/Interactive

Outstanding series of lessons and interactives at the Harcourt Science up Close site.  These activities all have optional speech and captioning and many are interactive.  The graphics are also excellent, so they take awhile to load the first time, but it's totally worth the wait and would be awesome on the SMARTBoard.  The activities related to simple machines are:  More Force, More Acceleration, How a Faucet Works, How a Doorknob Works, Bike Brakes, and Examples of Wedges.

Edheads Simple Machines in the Home and Toolshed

Zoom Fix a Rube Goldberg Machine

In this interactive, fix 13 parts of a machine designed to speed a Goldburger to the hungry Zoom crew.  Even though the machine is complicated, students should be able to use the clues and make the adjustments as they don't have to be made in a particular order.

NOVA:  Lever an Obelisk Challenge

This interactive challenges students to use simple machines to raise an obelisk.

Scholastic StudyJams Videos and Slide Shows

The scholastic site has 6 excellent presentations suitable for intermediate students in its Force and Motion section.  Some are videos and others are slide shows and all include a self-test.  The slideshows advance automatically and contain subtitles which require reading at grade level.  The titles are:  Force and Motion, Simple Machines, Gravity and Intertia, and 3 more on each of Newton's 3 Laws.  Students will likely find the cool teenage characters in the animated videos very engaging.

NeoK12 Simple Machine Videos (3-5 minutes)

There are 13  videos of the various simple machines on this page.  The first two are from Bill Nye Science guy and kid pals, explaining simple machines and accompanied by very cool footage, e.g. levers being used as catapults.  The remainder are from the Eureka series.  While many of these contain excellent information, they might be better viewed on individual computers as they are likely be too blurry on a larger screen.

These are a Few of My Favourite Machines Song (1:15)

To the tune of These are a Few of My Favourite things, this video features hilarious lyrics and pics.  Would make an awesome mash-up project with kids contributing their own pics to a poster version of the lyrics or remaking the video.  If slow loading is a problem, download it from Teacher Tube and play it from your computer.

Building Simple Machines:  Plant Quencher (1:15)

In this video from Zoom, Jillian shows a Rube Goldberg style machine she designed to water plants that employs several different types of simple machines.  The video can be downloaded and shared and there are printable discussion question for teachers on the site.

Force Affects Objects

In this gridset, the student will learn and write about the forces around us that affect movement of objects. This activity supports the Ministry of Education Learning Outcomes for Grade 5 Science -Physical Science-: Forces and Simple Machines: demonstrate how various forces can affect the movement of objects. Created by Kathy Ryan.

Simple Machines (Clicker5 and ClickerPaint)

In this gridset, the student will learn and demonstrate their knowledge about the six types of simple machines. It also contains a ClickerPaint component in the Write section. This activity supports the Ministry of Education Learning Outcomes for Grade 5 Physical Science- Forces and Simple Machines: 1- demonstrate how various forces can affect the movement of objects 2- demonstrate mechanical advantage of simple machines, including lever, wedge, pulley, ramp, screw, and wheel. Created by Kathy Ryan.

Compound Machines

In this gridset, the student will learn and write about how we use simple and compound machines to do work for us. This activity supports the Ministry of Education Learning Outcomes for Grade 5 Science -Physical Science-: Forces and Simple Machines: describe applications of simple and compound machines used in daily life in BC communities. Created by Kathy Ryan.