Ramps and levers

Ages 3 to 5 Read and do together · about 15 minutes

Read together

A ramp helps things go up and down.

A lever helps us lift. Push down on one end, and the other end goes up.

Do it

1. Make a ramp from a book and a board or a tray. Roll a ball down. Count how long it takes.
2. Make the ramp steeper by adding a book. Roll again. Is it faster?
3. Make a lever: rest a ruler or wooden spoon on a small block, with a toy on one end. Press the other end and see the toy lift.
4. Say “push”, “pull”, “lift”, “steep” and “flat”.

Talk about it

• What happens when the ramp is steeper?
• How does the lever lift the toy?

For the grown-up

Ramps and levers are simple machines. A steeper ramp makes things go faster, and a lever can make lifting easier. Children learn by trying and comparing.

Mark as done

Next lesson →

Where this comes from

• NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation K-PS2-1 (pushes and pulls)
• NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation K-PS2-2 (analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.