Minds On
Simple machines
Machines are part of our everyday lives. People use cranes to lift heavy items, chainsaws to cut down trees, and cars to travel from place to place.
Most machines are complex, but they are all based on simple machinery. Whether complex or simple, all machines are devices designed to reduce the effort that is required to complete work.
Think about the machines used around your home: a can opener to open a favorite can of soup or a knife used to slice a piece of fruit. Simple machines are everywhere!
Explore the following image of the six different types of simple machines.
Brainstorm
Simple machines at home
Record a list of simple machines that might be around your home using a method of your choice.
Consider the following prompts to help you brainstorm:
- What are the simple machines used for?
- How often are simple machines used in our daily lives?
- Can people do without some of the simple machines?
Action
Global connection
The United Nations (UN) is a group of many countries from around the world that have come together to create a better future for people and the environment. They have created 17 goals called the Sustainable Development Goals.
This learning activity is connected to Goal #15: Life on Land. This means everyone should help protect earth’s ecosystem. An ecosystem is an area where plants and animals interact with non-living things like soil or water.
Nature has simple machines, too!
Simple machines are devices that reduce the amount of effort required to accomplish certain tasks. As explored in the animation from the Minds On section, the categories of simple machines are as follows:
Source: The Ontario Science Curriculum
Government of Ontario. (n.d.). Ontario Science Curriculum, Grades 1-8. Science and Technology. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/science-technology
Each of these machines makes work easier, so it makes sense that certain animal species would benefit from these mechanisms as well!
Simple machines as adaptations
Living organisms rely on their natural habitat to meet their basic needs for survival. This includes necessities like food, shelter, water, and space.
However, organisms have changed and evolved to meet their needs in their environment in even more effective ways. These strategic changes are known as adaptations.
Explore the following Science North video entitled “Science for the Classroom: Habitats” to learn more about how the beaver has adapted within its natural wetland habitat.
What are some of the ways that beavers have adapted within their environment?
Record your thinking using a method of your choice.
Press ‘Hint’ to access some possible answers.
- Beavers developed webbed feet to become better swimmers because of the amount of work they do in the water in their water-based habitats.
- Their broad tails evolved to help them balance better while carrying logs on land in a forested or wetland habitat.
The adaptations discussed in the previous video explain how beavers adapted to build better dams within wetland and forest habitats. One important beaver adaptation that was not highlighted in the video but is essential to their dam-building is their strong, sharp teeth!
Press the following tabs to learn more about how different animal adaptations function like simple machines and make it easier for different species to complete necessary tasks within their habitats.
The a beaver's front teeth are a particularly important adaptation because of how they work exactly like a certain simple machine (the wedge!).
To help a busy beaver with its ongoing job of constructing wood lodges, beaver teeth need to be both incredibly strong and sharp.
Like any wedge, a beaver’s teeth front teeth start thick at one end and narrow into a finer tip at the edge. These teeth work in the same way as a wedge simple machine in their ability to separate portions of an object (a tree or large piece of wood) by using a narrow, sharp edge.
Source: McGill University Office for Science and Society
McVean, A. (2020, January 31). Beavers have metal teeth. Office for Science and Society. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/beavers-have-metal-teeth
Masterful hunting birds like kingfishers survive on a diet of small fish, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans.
To meet their daily feeding needs, kingfishers rely on their beaks to both catch and consume prey just below the water’s surface. The size and structure of their beaks have evolved so that they are suited to eating small prey, and the beak works like two levers attached at a central joint.
A diagram showing a sideview of the same bird’s beak three times stacked one above the other. The first diagram highlights how the top beak and central joint create a lever going up with an upwards directional arrow, and the second diagram highlights the bottom beak and the central joint forming a lever going up with an upwards directional arrow to where the bottom beak meets the top beak and closes. The final diagram highlights the bottom beak and central joint forming a lever that allows the bottom beak to open, with a downwards directional arrow.
Source: Functional Ecology, British Ecological Society
Olsen, A. M. (2017). Feeding ecology is the primary driver of beak shape diversification in waterfowl. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10025976
An important adaptation for the badger is having long and extremely sharp claws for digging, whether as predators looking for food or while building protective shelters in the form of burrows.
The badger’s curved, sharp nails that measure up to 5cm in length are developed specially to cut through soil as they are tapered into a sharper edge like any wedge. Having sharp, long, wedge-like claws functions like a simple machine to make the work of the badger easier!
Source: British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
Blood, D. A. (2002, March). Badger. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/badger.pdf
Similar to the badger, the rabbit uses its sharp front claws to dig when burrowing, which is an example of the simple machinery of a wedge.
As an omnivore with many predators and the need to clear away soil to find shelter from attacks, the rabbit’s hind legs are also required to scoop out the excavated dirt. The way that a rabbit’s hind feet are designed to lift up soil functions like a lever in the same as a shovel: the rabbit lifts its leg around a fixed point (its hip) while keeping its leg straight.
Source: British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
Blood, D. A. (2002, March). Badger. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/badger.pdf
Engineer your own animal adaptation
You have had the chance to examine some existing examples of how animals have adapted to meet their needs within a habitat, and also the ways in which these adaptations function like simple machines.
As you explored in the Minds On, the purpose of any machine is to reduce the amount of effort it takes to accomplish a task. Consider some of the work that is accomplished by animals in a habitat community everyday. All species need to:
- find food/space
- escape predators
- access water
- build shelters
Keeping what you know about simple machines in mind, your next task will be to design your own animal adaptation that uses simple machinery to help make work easier. For example, your animal might be able to jump higher using levers like a kangaroo, or it might be able to use a screw-like motion to dig deeper into the sand for food. Perhaps your animal will be able to use its tail like a pulley to move up and down trees!
In this upcoming task, you will engage with certain stages of the Engineering Design Process!
Check out this video to learn about the steps of the Engineering Design Process.
We begin at the Ask and Imagine steps with the guiding question for your design: what kind of animal adaptation can you design that could help a species do their daily tasks more easily?
As you begin to imagine what that adaptation could look like, record any initial ideas in drawings/sketches, in writing, or using another method of your choice as you go. Once you have selected an idea you’d like to build on, you will begin the Plan stage of the process.
Criteria for your design
The range of creative options for your adaptation design is open to your imagination, but there are certain criteria that everyone’s design will require. Before beginning the Plan step of the design process, explore the following interactive checklist to browse the design criteria.
Designing an animal adaptation checklist
In my design, I can identify…
Create your design using a method of your choice.
Consolidation
My animal can….
Another important step of the Engineering Design Process is the Share stage. It can be very helpful to discuss your design plans at any stage because it is likely that you’ll make several changes along the way! Being able to communicate about your design is another way to demonstrate your understanding of simple machinery and adaptations.
For this final task, you will prepare a detailed description of the animal adaptation you have designed. Consider the checklist items from the previous task to help guide your thinking:
- specific species of animal
- specific habitat: grasslands, wetlands, forest, desert, arctic/polar, ocean/marine, rocky areas (cliffs, mountain ranges)
- an adaptation: does your species change its structure or size? Its behaviour? How?
- at least one simple machine: a lever, a wheel and axle, a wedge, a pulley, an inclined plane, or screw
- function: how does your adaptation function like a simple machine?
Create your description using a method of your choice. If possible, share your description with someone else.
Reflection
As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel…
Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.