Take, Explore, and Discover! Kits Grades 6-8 Kit #15 SIMPLE MACHINES Take, Explore, and Discover! (TED!) kits are hands-on learning kits that you can interact with and use to investigate the world around you. With a focus on science and social studies, these kits include activities that encourage experimentation and creativity as well as ideas that get you outside to explore Providence. TED! kits are available at all Providence Community Library locations. Take, explore, and discover them all! Simple machines are all around us. Without them, we wouldn’t have bicycles, elevators, or wheelchair ramps. Some are everyday things like ladders and slides, but simple machines are also important elements in more complex machines like airplanes, rockets, and catapults! Use this kit to explore simple machines and how they can work for you. The Simple Machines Model Building Kit includes everything you need to build all six kinds of machines, and comes with instructions and ideas for many different experiments that will demonstrate the power of simple machines. The links below also provide ideas for more outside-the-box projects that you can do at home, including building an ancient Roman arch out of ice cubes! This TED! kit includes: ● Poly Canvas Backpack ● Simple Machines (Intro to Mechanical Engineering) Model Building Kit ● Activity Sheet (Spanish and English) ● Laminated “Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt” Worksheet ● Journal and Pencil ● Patron Survey (Spanish and English) Activities ● Use the Simple Machines (Intro to Mechanical Engineering) Model Building Kit to experiment with all six kinds of simple machines. ● Download this Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt Worksheet (https://tinyurl.com/s5te464y) and see what you can find. Look around the house and around your neighborhood! ● Try building a Roman arch (https://tinyurl.com/75nnmcsb)! Can you do it without any glue or adhesive? ● Try one of these Simple Machine projects (https://tinyurl.com/2psyjpu8) - you can make a confetti launcher to a rubber band car with materials found at home. Which one is your favorite? Books These items are all available through your local library. ● The Way Things Work Now: From Levers to Lasers, Windmills to Wi-Fi, a Visual Guide to the World of Machines by David Macaulay ● Make This! : Building, Thinking, and Tinkering Projects for the Amazing Maker in You by Ella Schwartz ● Rubber Band Engineer : Build Slingshot-Powered Rockets, Rubber Band Rifles, Unconventional Catapults, and More Guerrilla Gadgets from Household Hardware by Lance Akiyama ● The Kids' Book of Simple Machines : Cool Projects & Activities That Make Science Fun by Kelly Doudna ● Ancient Machines: From Wedges to Waterwheels by Michael Woods and Mary B. Woods Virtual Resources Visit TED! Virtual Resources Guide at provcomlib.org/ted.