Students learn about labor-saving machines

Overcoming gravity, friction and mass has always been a critical task for humans making their way in the world. We create tools and machines to do that - and that's a big part of what has made humans successful.

Last week, third- and fourth-grade students of Sisters Elementary School were treated to an understanding of some of the working principles of the lever, wheel, pulley and ramp by members of the Sister Science Club (SSC).

Science Club co-founder Dr. Bob Collins got things rolling: "Today I'm going to show you how you can pick up one of the cars out in the parking lot with just one finger, and if you really pay attention, how you can lift your teacher with just the end of your little finger," he said.

"But first we have to talk about three very important rules: First is safety; the last thing any of us wants is to be injured while we conduct these experiments that will save you time and help you do your work. The second is respect; respect for all these people who are here to help you, and respect for yourself - and the third is responsibility to make sure you get the most out of your time and ours. That means making sure you record everything we do, so we can measure what we've done, and repeat the process; that's the way science works."

After the introduction, three groups of students met with Collins and his helpers, Cal and Marsha Allen, Bunny and Mark Thompson, Rod Moorehouse and John Griffith, who introduced them to the pulleys and ropes of the wheel, toy cars that the students would move, the bulky objects they would move on a ramp and even heavier objects they could lift with a lever.

Scales were used along with math to help the students understand how force can be measured and put to work, and the students were taught how to make graphs to demonstrate how the science of simple machines can be used.

"First we tried picking up an axe with a little wheel," said fourth-grader Brodey Mynatt. "It was hard. Then we did it with a big wheel and it easy. Then we raced cars."

"I learned that the power of pulleys is fascinating. I saw that a pulley can be used to lift really heavy things. It was really cool, except for the last pulley, it kept falling apart," said Porter Liddell, a fourth-grader.

"We had to put one metal block on top of another metal block," said Kathryn Gates. "Our first idea was a ramp, and it did not work. Then we tried water on the ramp, and that did not work. Then we tried wax on the brick and it did not work. Then we used tiny logs and that definitely did not work. Then we tried wheels with the ramp and that finally worked!"

After the SSC crew provided the students the opportunity to see and experiment for themselves how pulleys, ramps and levers make work easier and lift heavy loads, they returned to their classroom to write up the results of their day of science - but not before Sadie Sharp took Mrs. Small's hand to help her step up on the lever, and Meah Norman used the pressure of her little finger to raise her higher.