American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Work Made Simple–Then and Now

Work Made Simple–Then and Now

Details

Author
Cindy Jordan
Topic/Subject Area
Home Life, Household Items, Furniture; Industry, Occupation, Work; Science, Technology
Historical Era
Colonial settlement, 1620–1762, Revolutionary America, 1763–1783, The New Nation, 1784–1815, National Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877, Rise of Industrial America, 1878–1899, Progressive Era, World War I, 1900–1928, Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945, Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989, New Millennium, 1990–Present
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
2007
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that the six simple machines; wedge, lever, pulley, screw, inclined plane, and wheel and axle, are not new inventions, but have been used in the past, as well as now to make every day work easier.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Other Resources

Teaching Plan

  1. Create a chart with the students to review previously learned information on the functions of the six simple machines: wedge, lever, pulley, screw, inclined plane, and wheel and axle.
  2. Read Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall.
  3. Make a big book that consists of at least one page for each simple machine. Fold each page in half and title the left side “THEN” and the right side “NOW.” Use children’s small line drawings to illustrate each of the six simple machines. Title this book “Work Made Simple–Then and Now.”
  4. Read Ox-Cart Man a second time having students identify any items from the story that make use of simple machines. Discuss work being done in the illustrations and how the identified items made this work easier for people to do.
  5. Download and enlarge the Collection Item images listed in the Materials & Resources section. Students will view each image and learn the name and the use of each item from the past.
  6. Students will classify the simple machine that each item represents and glue it into the class big book on the “THEN” side.
  7. In an interactive writing lesson, label each image and write a caption for its function. Have students complete the sentence, “This reminds me of……” about something they use or see at home or in school.
  8. Using modern day store circulars, magazines, and catalogs, as well as children’s drawings, students will work in pairs to locate similar items of simple machines used today. Repeat steps 5 through 7 to complete the “NOW” side of the big book.