STARTER - Quickwrite (5 minutes)

Wheels have not been around forever, in fact according to historians, they were invented in 3500BC in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). How do you think wheels made people's lives easier back when they were first invented? How do you think wheels have changed since then?​

​Wheels & Axle

• ​Wheels are simple machines that make tasks easier

• ​A greater force is needed to slide an object than to use a wheel to move it

• ​Wheels are a type of lever because the axle works as a fulcrum

• ​E.g.'s door handles, car, bus, train, bike, trailer all use wheels

​Wheels

• ​Wheels can be force multipliers e.g. door handle, screw driver

​

• Wheels can act as distance multipliers e.g. when the axle turns a small amount on the inside of a wheel and the outside of a wheel turns a much larger amount e.g. bike wheel, ceiling fan

​This shows a wheel and axle acting as a distance multiplier

​Some amazing wheels

​Wheely interesting history

The first wheels created were made of solid wood​. Over time, they were made lighter by hollowing them out.

​The innovation of wheels led to major advances in two main areas:

​1. Transport: wheels were fitted to carts pulled by strong horses, cows and donkeys

​2. Agriculture: wheels are the basic mechanism of windmills, used to grind grain and pump water, it was also used in crop irrigation

​Answer the following questions, refer to pg. 158/159 of textbook