A Simple Machine to Make Work Simple

Introduction• A machine is a device for performing

work.• Most machines are designed to make work

easier.• New machines are invented all the time by

people with great ideas on how to make something easier. Sometimes these people invent something really good and become rich and famous.

The Task• We have been challenged to come up with

an invention that would make something we do in our everyday life easier.

• Throughout this challenge we brainstormed ideas and then compiled those into ideas of inventions that would actually work.

• Finally we used the scientific process to design and test our invention.

The Scientific Process• Purpose: to design a machine to help us

open books faster. The type of machine we are creating is a wedge.

• Materials: straw, pencil top eraser, rod, glue, ribbon, and tape

• Hypothesis: the fast book machine will aide students in opening books faster than just using their own two hands.

Fast Book Machine - Wedge

• What is a wedge?– a solid block

that is thick at one end and thin at the other, used to secure or separate two objects

• Examples….– Axe, doorstop,

zipper, knife

How Does a Wedge Make Work Easier?

• Without the use of a wedge, we would not be able to split things easily.

• Wedges make things easier to open by using less effort.– Effort - energy: mental or physical energy that

is exerted in order to achieve a purpose

• Axes are used to cut lumber. A wedge saves time so the work can be done quicker.

Procedure

1. Put the rod through the straw.

2. Put some glue on the pencil top eraser and put it on one end of the rod.

3. Tie the ribbon around the other end and tape it shut.

4. Use the fast page turner to turn the pages of a book

Procedures continued• Using force, we pushed our fast page

turner and the fast page turner did the work.– Force - the capacity to do work or cause

physical change

Data

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Num

ber

of P

ages

Turned by Hand Turned with Invention

Conclusions• Using the fast page turner made the work

easier. Less effort was applied and we were able to open our books and turn pages faster.

• We turned 10 more math book pages with our fast page turner in one minute than with our bare hands.

References• http://www.edinformatics.com/math_scien

ce/force.htm• http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab

=wi• http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q

=define+wedge&FORM=DTPDIA&qpvt=what+is+a+wedge

• http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+effort&FORM=DTPDIA&qpvt=what+is+effort