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Inclined Plane - Uses

Name of Corresponding Unit Plan: Inclined Planes - Screw; Inclined Plane - Pull-Weight

Grade Level: K-8

VT Grade Expectations
VT S:4 Students demonstrate their ability to CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS by recording relevant details of an object and its surroundings when applicable.

NY Standards
NY Standard 1: Scientific Inquiry
Key Idea 1: Clarify ideas through reasoning, research, and discussion

Content Areas: Science

Recommended Length/Duration: 30-50 minutes

Learning Goals: Students will identify the uses of Inclined Planes in their environment. Students will recognize that Inclined Planes make it easier to lift things.

Description/Sequence:

  1. This activity can be done in school or for homework.
  2. The teacher will discuss a variety of places where Inclined Planes are used.
  3. Review the worksheet and the data students are to record.
  4. Have students work in groups or individually to identify Inclined Planes used in the school or at home
  5. Students should answer the questions on their data collection sheet.
  6. When all students have completed the activity, the teacher should review their findings and develop a class list of all the uses for inclined planes.

Assessments Informal assessment based on participation and task completion.

Materials/Resources: Inclined Plane Uses Worksheet (pdf)

Special Considerations: Some Inclined Planes are wedges. Accept these examples and use them as a segue to introduce this special class of inclined planes.

Extension: Stairs are perhaps the most interesting common inclined planes. Students might enjoy calculating how long a stair case would be if it were not broken up into flights. They might want to try something like the Empire State Building.