Page 15 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE; EXPLORING GOD’S UNIVERSE

Science Y6 – Forces and motion – lesson 8

List the places we see gears. _______________________________________________________________________

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Experiment 1

Aim: To find out how many times a small gear wheel turns while the larger one turns once.
To discover whether both wheels turn the same way.

Apparatus: Plastic gear wheels or slices of potato with cocktail sticks stuck at intervals around it, or three
different sized cardboard wheels with ’teeth’/cogs cut out.

Method: Set up the two gear wheels. Turn one wheel once, counting how many times the small
one rotates. Try wheels with a different number of cogs/teeth. Is there any
difference? Try three wheels. Which way does the third wheel turn?
Results: _____________________________________________________________________________________

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Experiment 2

Aim: Many of the wheels on fast-moving machines have ball bearings inside them. Cars and bicycles
have ball bearings. This experiment shows how ball bearings work.

Apparatus: Marbles, a tin with a rim, eg a syrup tin

Method: Put about six marbles around the rim of the tin. Lay a book on top of the marbles and push the
book carefully. It should spin around but if the marbles are removed it will not spin. Was this
true?

Result: _____________________________________________________________________________________

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Experiment 3
Aim: To make a water wheel.

Apparatus: Cork, yoghurt pot, cocktail sticks, scissors

Method: Cut up the yoghurt pot into about six strips to make vanes for the water
wheel. The cork should have grooves put into it by an adult so that the
yoghurt pot strips can fit into them. Put a cocktail stick into each end of
the cork. Hold the wheel loosely with the cocktail sticks on your open
hands under a running tap.

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