Simple and Compound Machines Unit

Part One Lesson Plan
Part One Powerpoint
Part One Lesson Rubric
Part Two Lesson Plan
Part Two Powerpoint
Part Two Student Sample One
Part Two student Sample Two
Part Three Lesson Plan
Part Four Lesson Plan

Name: Charis Plantz (Part 1), Denise Kozer (Part 2), Paula Henry (Part 3), Matthew Brabaw (Part 4)
Grade: 4
School: Nightengale Elementary School, Edward Knox Central School, Jefferson Elementary School
Subject: Science

Lesson Overview:
Part 1
Students will learn about simple and compound machines.
They will navigate the web site http://www.edheads.com to search for simple and compound machines. Students will be given 3-5 days to create a compound machine after they are shown examples in a brochure developed by the teacher.
Part 2
Students will create an advertisement using Power Point. The teacher will introduce a sample advertisement to the students. The teacher will go over expectations: slogan for product, picture of product, 4 ways the product is useful and makes life easier. Students will make sketch of what the slide will look like and go to the computer lab to create the advertisement. Students will present their advertisement to the class. The class will fill in a questionnaire: Would I purchase this product? (yes/no, why?)
Part 3
Students will write a persuasive essay regarding their compound machine. The introduction will tell about their product (what it does, what it is used for). The body of the essay should contain three reasons why someone should buy your product. Each reason should be one paragraph and include a conclusion.
Part 4
In this final lesson students will listen to a presentation from each of their peers and determine the top 5 inventions. Then a vote will be cast to determine which of the 5 inventions is the most marketable. Students will collect data from the votes that were cast and construct a bar graph and write a comparison statement using their graph.