1) Choose the classroom challenge
Pick a machine to start.
2) Quick force helper / Kraft-Helfer
Move the sliders to compare effort, distance, and load. This is a classroom model, not engineering advice.
3) Vocabulary / Wortschatz
Printable challenge cards
Lever / Hebel
Build a paper seesaw. Move the fulcrum and record what changes.
Pulley / Flaschenzug
Draw a flagpole pulley. Label pull direction and load direction.
Wheel & axle / Rad und Achse
Find three classroom wheels. Explain how each saves effort.
Inclined plane / Schiefe Ebene
Compare lifting a book straight up with sliding it up a ramp.
Wedge / Keil
Sketch a doorstop or pencil tip. What force direction changes?
Screw / Schraube
Find the spiral ramp on a screw thread. Why does it hold?
Teacher note
Use as a 20–40 minute discovery station. Students can work in pairs, print the cards, and write one English and one German sentence for each machine.