Reading Level: Grade 1 Interest Level: Grades K – 3
Levers are found in many places, including your own body! From shovels to arms, levers help us get work done. This title explores the history of levers, the forces that make them work, and where they are found in everyday life. Diagrams and simple experiments allow for different avenues of learning in title for beginning readers.
These titles describe simple machines to new readers who are eager to learn how they make life easier. Some of the machines are more basic than others, like wedges, levers, and inclined planes. Others, like pulleys, screws, and wheels and axles, require a little more engineering. Pulleys tells readers how rope, wheel, and axle can combine to lift a heavy load with less force and how adding more pulleys (creating a compound pulley) can reduce the effort even further. Bright colors and large text, complemented with illustrative photographs, make these books wonderfully educational. The history of simple machines is discussed in each volume. Perhaps the best part is that each book includes several experiment suggestions, teaching readers how to make a pulley, an Archimedes’ screw, and more with household objects. VERDICT: Fun, educational choices for every collection.
