This lesson will provide children with a basic understanding of the various uses of inclined planes and encourage them to think about how ramps are used through experimentation.

After learning about the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge and screw, the students designed a future Hilltop playground, one that included examples of each simple machine studied.

When you push or pull with a simple machine, you are applying a force and doing work. And, if you get more force out of a machine than you put into it, then that machine has a mechanical advantage.