Fred Flintstone's Adventures with Wedges

Fred Flintstone's Adventures with Wedgesis part of a Simple Machine series starring the Flintstone's characters.

This series breaks down the individual components of simple machines into separate books. The focus is for younger readers and the text, dialogue and pictures are designed to introduce, define, and provide examples of wedges. The book does a great job introducing the concept and provides some interesting examples to help young readers understand what a wedge is and how to identify one.

Fred discusses door wedges, wheel chocks, axes, nails, chisels, darts, knives, and teeth. Each is illustrated and the characters explain why these fit the definition of a wedge.

My one question about this series is name recognition. I loved the Flintstone's as a child. However, talking to my niece's boys they don't seem to know much about them. Parents might enjoy sharing their memories of the series with their kids. I'm just not sure if the connection will be the same if there isn't a connection to the cartoon.

The Fort on Fourth Street

The Fort on Fourth Street: A Story About the Six Simple Machinesis a great concept for teaching simple machines, but it didn't quite deliver as strongly as I'd hoped. The book demonstrates how simple machines are used in the construction of a fort.

The idea is engaging. Many kids want a practical reason for learning about simple machines. Making a fort is an attractive reason to learn about simple machines and to learn to use tools. However, the author chose a rather difficult format for this book, the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built." At the end of each introduction of a simple machine used to build the fort, we get a listing of all the simple machines used. It is repetitive and not that helpful.

What is lacking is a good definition of a simple machine. We are supposed to infer what a simple machine is through the list of items we are given that are simple machines. However, it doesn't quite work. At the end of the book, the author has a page that gives textbook definitions of simple machines, but the definitions aren't age appropriate for the target audience of the text. This information would have been much more useful embedded in the story of the grandpa building the fort. The author sprinkled little bits and pieces, but it needed to be more organized and direct to help kids walk away with a real understanding of why X is a simple machine and Y is not. Also why X is a specific type of simple machine. At the end the author has a little picture quiz with answers that tries to clarify some of the definitions, but that would have been better suited as part of the story.

Smash! Wile E. Coyote Experiments with Simple Machines

Smash!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments with Simple Machines (Wile E. Coyote, Physical Science Genius) is a great introduction to simple machines for kids. While cartoon stories sometimes depend too much on the cartoons and not enough on the science, this book doesn't disappoint.

For those familiar with the Road Runner and Coyote episodes this book will have a predictable feel. Each chapter explores a different simple machine having Wile Coyote attempt to use that machine to attack the Road Runner. In keeping with the cartoon theme Road Runner escapes unharmed in each instance, but a valuable lesson is learned about simple machines.

Wile Coyote's story is a good fit for simple machines as he's always using different methods to attack his nemesis. The author does a good job in staying with the Coyote traditional story line and embedding the science vocabulary and concepts around the story without losing the continuity of the story.

This is actually one of the best simple machine children's books I've read to date. The language is accurate and detailed. Children who come to this story knowing little about simple machines will learn the names of the simple machines and discover more about how each is used while being entertained. For children who have been introduced to simple machines, this provides more information and a great funny review of the material.

Science Sites

Looking for science links to add to your lessons? Try exploring some of these.

General Science:


BBC Science

Discovery Education Science

Dragonfly TV PBS Kids

Foss Science Activities

Fun Science Gallery

Hunkin's Experiments

Innovations Activities

Magic Schoolbus

National Geographic for Kids

PBS Science and Tech Teacher Resources Sorted by Grade Level

Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab

Science Behind Making Toys Activities for Kids

Science Experiments

Science Kids at Home

Science Lessons and Supporting Worksheets Variety of Topics

Science of Sports

Science Resources for Experiments

Science with Me Experiments Free Registration Required

Science Quiz Games

Science Tools Free

Science Worksheets and Printables from Education.com

Smithsonian For Kids

Softschool

Thinking Fountain

Zoom PBS Kids

Vicki Cobb's Page



Animals and Other Creatures

Animal Crafts and Projects

Amphibians Birds Mammal Reptiles Reproducable Activity Book TLS

Dinosaur Printables

Kids Dinos

Land or Sea Habit Activity TLS

Mammal or Reptile Cut, Paste, and Sort Activity

New England Aquarium Activities

New England Aquarium Games

Snakes of Massachusetts

Whale Pop Up Book To Make Free



Biology

Biology4Kids

Kids Biology



Chemistry

Atoms, Compounds, and Mixtures

Chem4Kids

Bubble Resources

Clickable Periodical Table

General Chemistry Online

Links for Chemistry Experiments

Silly Putty Recipes and Activities

Solids, Liquids, and Gasses Free Video



Geology/Rocks and Minerals

Earth

Geology

Geology for Kids Kids Geo

Geology Rocks and Minerals Coloring Sheets

Interactive Rock Cycle

Rockhound

Volcano World

Volcanoes

Volcanoes



Insects

Insect Coloring Sheets

Metamorphosis



Plants

BBC Helping Plants Grow Well

Label Parts of a Flower

Label Part of the Flower Computer BBC

Label Parts of a Plant

Plant Coloring Sheets



Physics

Amusement Park Physics

Matter

Miami Science Museum Atoms Family

Motion Primary TLS

Physics4Kids

Playground Physics Outdoor Activities




Simple Machines

Building Big PBS Series

Lego Lessons

Leonardo's Simple Machines

Simple Machine Activities

Simple Machine Definitions

Simple Machine Definitions

Simple Machine Experiments




Space

Arty the Party Time Astronaut

Cosmos4Kids

Kids Astronomy.com

NASA for Students

Planet Facts

Windows to the Universe



Weather

Cloud Quiz

Cloud Worksheet Color

File Folder Game: Weather

Interactives Weather

Graph the Temperature Line Graph TLS

Reader's Theater Water Cycle

Temperature Conversion

Water States of Water

Water Cycle Diagram Coloring Sheets

Water Cycle

Water Cycle Experiment

Water Cycle Online Game

Water Cycle Free Video

Weather Prediction

Weather Quiz Game

Weather Recording

Weather Word Search