Everyday Machines
How the things in your home work: a zipper, a lock, a faucet, a toilet, a light switch, a fridge, a car and an elevator.
Free, start to finish. No card. Every week opens without signing in.
- Grade
- Kindergarten to Grade 5, ages 5 to 11
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Pace
- 6 short lessons a week, about 15 minutes each
- Price
- Free, every week
About this course
Everyday Machines opens up the machines a family touches every day. Each week is one object: how a zipper's hooks lock, how a key lifts the pins in a lock, what a faucet's washer does, how a toilet flushes, what a light switch opens and closes, why a fridge door seal grabs, how a fridge moves heat out, what a thermostat decides, what a pen's spring does, how a car moves and how an elevator lifts. Kids look closely, take apart one approved item, run one fair test, draw a cutaway and explain the machine in their own words with Rocket, Raven and Nova. For K to 5 with a grown-up reading along. Nothing is plugged in, and a grown-up handles anything hot, sharp or heavy. Saturday is Machine Day with the family.
Kids will
- Name the parts of a home machine and the job each part does
- Explain how a shape or a material suits a job: a wedge, a screw, a washer, a magnet
- Describe a circuit as a loop that a switch opens and closes
- Explain that heat moves from warm to cold and how a fridge and a thermostat use that
- Run one fair test, record the result and say what happened
- Draw a cutaway and explain how a machine works in your own words
The 12 weeks
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Week 1
Machines Everywhere
What a machine is, and the wheels all around you
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Week 2
The Zipper
Rows of hooks and a slider that is a wedge
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Week 3
Lock and Key
A key's shape lifts the pins just right
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Week 4
The Faucet
A twist that stops the water
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Week 5
The Toilet
A tank, a flap, a float and gravity
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Week 6
The Light Switch
A loop, a gap and a glow
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Week 7
Magnets at Home
A pull you can feel but not see
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Week 8
The Refrigerator
A machine that moves heat out
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Week 9
The Thermostat
A switch that feels the room
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Week 10
Springs and Click Pens
A spring pushes back
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Week 11
How a Car Moves
Fuel or a battery, wheels, brakes and belts
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Week 12
The Elevator and Your Machine Show
A car, a counterweight and your big explanation
Try Week 1 today.
Open the course, pick Day 1 and go. Make a free parent account when you want progress saved for each kid.