Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt
KoKo NYC
Prospect Park
Brooklyn, NY
Grade K-2 and 3-5
This lesson is an engaging activity for students to synthesize their growing knowledge of simple machines. Instead of a standard class of building and inventing, students are split into smaller teams. Each student receives a mini zine-style 8-panel booklet to document their observations. Each team walks around the park/neighborhood identifying and drawing different examples of simple machines in everyday life. As usual, class concludes with a debrief and share. This Inventor’s Lab class was developed in line with KoKo NYC’s core educational values and was conducted entirely outdoors in adherence to public health guidelines regarding Covid-19.
In other variations on this activity for younger classes, the group collectively and collaboratively determines the scavenger hunt. Each student defines a clue for the group to search for. For example: find something red, find something made of metal, or find something with a unique texture.
1,2 – sketches of simple machines in Prospect Park as observed by grade 3-5 students
3,4 – K-2 class on a collectively determined scavenger hunt around Prospect Park