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SUBJECTS: Technologies
YEARS: 3–4
Wheels are round and come in many sizes, but how does a wheel turn?
In this clip we show you how a wheel and axle work together to provide movement.
Things to think about
- 1.Have you looked at a wheel to see how it turns? What makes a wheel able to turn?
- 2.How do wheels help people in their lives? What is an axle? Look at the way the wheels and axle are joined. Does the axle turn as the wheels turn? How many axles do most cars have? What stops the wheels from sliding off the axle?
- 3.Draw a design of a toy or vehicle that has wheels. What will you make the wheels from? Think about how you will make the wheels turn. How far will the toy or vehicle move forward with a push?
- 4.Make a toy car that will roll down a ramp and travel at least 2 metres. Lids from jars make useful wheels. Experiment to test which material is best. Skewers make useful axles. Investigate putting your a skewer through plastic straw. Then join the wheel to your axle. You need an adult to make a hole in each lid to join your axle. Don't make the hole in the lids too big! Does adding a weight to your car make it travel further? Why or why not?
Acknowledgements
Music by Glyn Lehmann.
Date of broadcast: 30 Apr 2001
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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