Grade by Grade
D. Structures and Mechanisms · Simple Machines and Movement

Simple Machines, People and Our Planet

D1.1 D1.2 A3.1 A3.3About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe how simple machines help people in different communities: in cities, on farms, in the North and in my own home.
  • I can describe simple machines made and used by First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
  • I can tell good and not-so-good effects of machines that help us move, on people and on the environment.
  • I can suggest ways to move around that are kinder to the environment.

Words to know

community
A group of people who live, work or play in the same place.
impact
The effect something has. An impact can be good or bad.
accessible
Easy for everyone to get to and use, including people who use wheelchairs or walkers.
environment
Everything around us: the air, water, land, plants and animals.
pollution
Harmful things, like smoke or garbage, that make the air, water or land dirty.
technology
Tools and machines that people make to solve problems.

Machines everywhere

You have learned about six simple machines. Now let's be detectives and look at people. Who uses simple machines? How do machines change people's lives? And how do machines that move us around, like bikes and cars, change the environment?

When we assess an impact, we ask: What is good about it? What problems can it cause? Who does it help, and who might it leave out?

Simple machines in different communities

  • In a city: Many elevators use pulleys and strong cables to lift people up tall buildings. Ramps and curb cuts help people using wheelchairs, walkers and strollers.
  • On a farm: Farmers use wheelbarrows (lever plus wheel and axle) to move feed. Some barns have pulleys to lift heavy bales up to the hayloft.
  • In snowy places: A snow shovel is used like a lever to lift and throw heavy snow. A toboggan or sled slides down a hill, and the hill is a natural inclined plane.
  • At the lake: A boat launch is a ramp. A canoe paddle is a lever that pushes the water.
  • At home: doorknobs, jar lids, scissors and can openers make everyday jobs easier.
A green wheelbarrow full of hay beside a red barn, with black and white cows grazing in a field behind.
On a farm, a wheelbarrow helps move heavy feed. It is a lever plus a wheel and axle working together. AI-generated image

Machines made by First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples

First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples have designed and used clever tools for a very long time, made from materials from the land.

  • Canoe paddles (lever): Many First Nations built birchbark canoes and used paddles to travel on lakes and rivers. A paddle is a lever: your top hand holds the paddle steady like a fulcrum, your bottom hand pulls, and the blade pushes against the water to move the canoe.
  • The ulu (wedge): The ulu is a knife with a curved blade, used by Inuit for cutting food and other materials. Its sharp, thin edge is a wedge. Ulus are still made and used today.
  • The Red River cart (wheel and axle): Métis people used Red River carts to carry heavy loads across the prairies. The carts had two big wooden wheels on a wooden axle. They were made of wood and rawhide (dried animal skin), so they could be fixed on the trail with materials from the land.
axle (wood)box for the loadbig wooden wheelshaftsRed River cart (seen from the side)two wheels, one on each end of the axle
A Red River cart used by Métis people. Its big wooden wheels and axle rolled heavy loads across the prairies, and it could be fixed on the trail with wood and rawhide.
top hand: holds steady(like the fulcrum)bottom hand: pullsblade pushes watercanoe moves this way →water
A canoe paddle is a lever. The top hand holds steady like a fulcrum, the bottom hand pulls, and the blade pushes against the water to move the canoe.

Respect and learning

These are real technologies made by skilled designers and builders. Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people still make and use them today. You can learn more from books written by Indigenous authors, and from Indigenous cultural centres and museums.

Machines that move us, and the environment

Many technologies that help us move use simple machines: bicycles, cars, buses, trains, snowmobiles, ski lifts and escalators all use wheels and axles, pulleys or levers.

These machines help us get to school, work and the store. But some of them affect the environment:

  • Cars, trucks and snowmobiles burn fuel like gas. This makes air pollution and noise.
  • Roads cut through forests and wetlands where animals live. Animals like turtles and deer can be hurt crossing roads. Some roads in Ontario have special tunnels or bridges just for animals to cross safely.
  • Bicycles, wagons, scooters and walking use your muscles, not fuel. They do not make air pollution.
Way to moveSimple machines it usesGood for peopleEffect on the environment
bicyclewheels and axles, gears, levers (brake handles, pedals)exercise; cheap to useno air pollution
carwheels and axles, gears, steering wheelfast; carries families and heavy things farmost cars burn gas, making air pollution
school buswheels and axles, gears, steering wheelcarries many kids at onceburns fuel, but less than if every family drove a car
walking with a wagonwheels and axlesexercise; carries a loadno air pollution
Assessing the impact of machines that help us move
Riddle time

What has four wheels and flies?

A garbage truck!

Worked example

Let's assess an impact: a ramp at the community centre

The community centre had only steps. Now it has a ramp. What is the impact?

  1. Who does it help? People using wheelchairs or walkers, parents with strollers, older people, and workers with heavy carts.
  2. Good effects: More people can get in on their own. The building is accessible and welcoming to everyone.
  3. Any problems? A ramp takes up space and costs money to build. In winter it must be cleared of snow and ice.
  4. Decide: The good effects are very important, and the problems can be solved (shovel and salt it in winter).

The ramp has a positive impact: it makes the community centre accessible to everyone. We need to keep it clear of snow so it stays safe.

Worked example

Let's assess an impact: biking or driving to the park

Your family is going to a park 2 kilometres away on a sunny day. Should you drive or ride bikes?

  1. Car: fast and easy, but it burns gas and makes air pollution.
  2. Bikes: a little slower, but they use wheels and axles and your muscles. No air pollution, and you get exercise!
  3. Think about people too: Can everyone in the family ride a bike? Is there a safe bike path?
  4. Decide: If it is safe and everyone can ride, bikes are kinder to the environment.

For a short trip on a nice day, biking or walking is a great choice for the environment. For long trips or heavy loads, a car or bus may be needed. Choosing the bus or sharing a ride helps too.

Hands-on activity

Machine impact detective

You need: paper, a pencil, and a walk around your neighbourhood with a grown-up.

  1. On your walk, look for machines that help people move: bikes, buses, cars, strollers, ramps, elevators, wheelchairs, snowplows.
  2. Make a chart with three columns: Machine, How it helps people, Effect on the environment.
  3. Fill in at least four rows.
  4. Look for one place that needs a simple machine. Is there a step with no ramp? A heavy door that is hard to open?
  5. Make a plan: Write or draw one way your family could move around in a way that is kinder to the environment this week (walk to school one day, bike to the store, take the bus).
  6. Share your chart and plan with your family.

Safety: stay with your grown-up and stay on the sidewalk.

Your turn

1

Name a simple machine that helps people using wheelchairs.

2

What is an ulu, and which simple machine is it?

3

What simple machine is a canoe paddle?

4

What did Métis people use Red River carts for?

5

Name one way cars can affect the environment.

6

Name a way to travel that makes no air pollution.

7

How do elevators help people in a city?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does "environment" mean?

2

Does a bicycle burn gas?

3

Which simple machine is a snow shovel when you lift snow with it?

4

Is a ramp at a library a good or a bad impact on people?

5

What is pollution?

More practice: on your own

1

Why were Red River carts made of wood and rawhide useful on long trips?

2

Name one good effect and one problem of a snowmobile.

3

Some roads in Ontario have tunnels for animals. Why?

4

A farmer moves heavy feed with a wheelbarrow. Which two simple machines help, and how?

5

Why is a school bus better for the environment than every family driving its own car?

Challenge

1

Assess the impact of an escalator at a mall. Give one good effect and one problem.

2

Why is it important to learn about tools made by First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples?

3

Make a plan: give two ways your class could get to a park 1 kilometre away that are kind to the environment.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which simple machine is an Inuit ulu?

2.

Métis Red River carts used which simple machine?

3.

Which way to travel makes no air pollution?

4.

How does a ramp at a library help a community?

5.

What does assess an impact mean?

6.

Why do some roads have tunnels for animals?

7.

Which is a lever used to travel in a canoe?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Simple machines affect daily life in many communities (D1.1), and technologies that use simple machines to help us move have environmental impacts (D1.2). Children practise assessing: naming good effects, problems, and who is helped or left out. Noticing machines in the community is A3.1; learning about First Nations, Métis and Inuit technologies is A3.3.

Indigenous perspectives: The canoe paddle, the Inuit ulu and the Métis Red River cart are real, still-relevant technologies. Present them as the work of skilled designers, not as things from the past only. Avoid generalising: different First Nations used different canoe designs and materials. Books by Indigenous authors and local Indigenous cultural centres are good sources for learning more.

How to help: Talk about your family's travel choices without guilt. Many families need a car. Focus on small, positive changes (walking to school one day a week, combining errands, taking the bus).

Common difficulties:

  • Seeing machines as only good or only bad. Encourage "good things" and "problems" for the same machine.
  • Missing who is left out. Ask, "Could everyone use this? Who might have trouble?"
  • Worry about the environment. Keep the focus on things a child can do.