Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Simple Machines

Simple Machines Simple Machines

---

Simple Machines
Print Simple Machines Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Simple Machines Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.09

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		caveman, bolts, formula, pulley, mathematical, definition, identify, lever, advantage, axle, power, complex, increase, define, scientific, mechanical
	content words:		Industrial Age

Other Languages
     French: Des Machines Simples
     Spanish: Máquinas Sencillas
     Italian: Le macchine semplici
     German: Einfache Maschinen

---

Simple Machines By Sharon Fabian

---

¹     Machines make work easier. When a caveman had to move a rock that was too heavy to lift, he might have used a big stick to make it easier. A long, long time ago, someone invented the wheel, and that made things a lot easier. By the Industrial Age, people were inventing all kinds of machines. New vehicles and new factory machines made life easier and gave people free time that we never had before. We really liked these inventions that made our lives easier! People are still creating new machines all the time. There is something really fun about inventing a contraption that seems to do some of our work for us.
 
²     Machines make work easier. So to understand machines, you first have to know what work is, scientifically speaking. Maybe you define work as carrying out the garbage, raking leaves, or cleaning your room. These are all forms of work, but scientists have a more scientific definition. To them, work is using a force to move an object across a distance.
 
³     There is a mathematical formula for this: W = F x D. It means "work equals force times distance."
 
⁴     Machines make it possible to move larger objects or to move objects faster or farther. Machines make work easier by adjusting the force or the distance to your advantage. They are used to push, pull, and lift. A machine can be used to increase the force or the distance, but not both. To get more force, you have to give up some distance. To get more distance, you have to give up some force. It's a scientific law called conservation of energy.

Paragraphs 5 to 13:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Simple Machines

Leave your feedback on Simple Machines   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Simple Machines

Simple Machines

---

Science

Science

Careers in Science         Caring for Earth         Clouds         Dinosaurs         Earth's Land         Earth         Earthquakes         Electricity         Energy         Erosion         Food Pyramid         Food Webs and Food Chain         Forces and Motion         Fossils         Health and Nutrition         How Things Work         Landforms         Life Science         Light         Magnets         Matter

Moon         Natural Disasters         Photosynthesis         Plant and Animal Cells         Plants         Rocks and Minerals         Science Process Skills         Scientific Notation         Seasons         Simple Machines         Soil         Solar System         Sound         Space and Stars         Sun         Tsunami         Volcanoes         Water Cycle         Water         Weather

Copyright © 2018 edHelper