Simple Machines at the Air Force Museum

Today we went to the Air Force Museum. We have been studying Simple Machines and we went to see how simple machines are used in everyday life.

Firstly, Chris spoke to us in the foyer. He told us what we would be doing and we divided into two groups - Room A/B and Room C.

Luke got to sit in a wheel chair. He had to go in an elevator and up a ramp to get into the classroom. We talked about how elevators use pulleys to lift up and how inclined planes make getting up a step easier. 

Charlotte tried to pull Brandon on a box. It was much easier when he was sitting on something that had wheels! 

Izzy tried to lift Emily using a leaver. The closer the fulcrum - the easier it was for her to lift. She could even lift Emily with a few fingers when the fulcrum was really close to Emily. 

 Joel got to 'drive' the aeroplane. He pulled a leaver and it made the elevators on the tail go up and down. There were pulleys on the rope to help it move more effectively.

 After that we went to a special hanger. This is not open to the public so we were very privileged to go there. Chris showed us how wedges stop planes from rolling around on the runway - but when they are used like this they are actually called 'chocks'.

Talia got to be the pilot of this aeroplane. She had to wear a special life jacket and helmet. 

Holly and Theo put the chocks near the wheels to stop the plane moving. 

Finally, we saw how pulleys make lifting things easier - we talked about how a lift works but this was an opportunity to see it in action. 

Acacia was very strong and lifted a big bottle of water - but it was quite tricky. 

When the bottle was tied onto a rope and threaded through pulleys the job was much easier. 

Look how high she can lift it now. 

 Owen and Hezekiah had a turn lifting the water bottles too.

After that we got to have a look at some of the aeroplanes.

Amalie and a friendly penguin!

What a great way to finish our unit on Simple Machines. A big THANK YOU to all the parents who came and helped us.