The Learn Lever
Equipment List
•	Learn Lever'"
•	11 Rainbow Sets of Golf Balls 
Learn Lever Lesson for Grades K-4

Learning Objective: Learn the relationship between the position of the fulcrum, and the force it takes to lift a load.
Experiment 1: Load Lifting
•	Identify the red bucket as the force and the blue bucket as the load.
•	Begin the experiment by placing the lever on the fulcrum point closest to the blue bucket.
•	Place 40 balls	 in the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	One by one, add balls to the red bucket to determine the amount of force required to lift the load.
•	Remove the balls from the red bucket but keep the balls in the blue bucket. Move the lever so the fulcrum is one spot farther away from the load.
•	One by one, add balls to the red bucket to determine the amount of force required to lift the same load with a different fulcrum point.
•	Continue experiment by moving the lever so the fulcrum is one spot farther away from the load.
Experiment 2: Feel the Force
•	Identify the red bucket as the force and the blue bucket as the load.
•	Begin the experiment by placing the lever on the fulcrum point closest to the blue bucket.
•	Place 12 balls in the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	Students press down on the red bucket feeling the amount of force they must exert to lift the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	Move the lever so the fulcrum is closer to the red bucket, students compare the force needed to lift the blue bucket (load) with the new fulcrum point.
•	Repeat the experiment using various fulcrum points.
The Lesson:
•	How many balls are needed the load when the fulcrum is closest to the load?
•	How many balls are needed t to lift the load when the fulcrum is two spots away from the load?
•	As the fulcrum moves further away from the load, is more or less force needed to lift the same load?
•	Identify common household items that are levers.
•	When applying force by hand, number the fulcrum points from easiest to hardest.
Options:
Use different objects to represent the force and the load.
Use a different number of balls to represent various load weights.

Learn Lever Lesson for Grades 5-8
Objective: Learn the relationship between the fulcrum and the force it takes to lift a load.
Experiment 1: Load Lifting
•	Identify the red bucket as the force and the blue bucket as the load.
•	Begin the experiment by placing the lever on the fulcrum point closest to the blue bucket.
•	Place 40 balls in the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	One by one, add balls to the red bucket to determine the amount of force required to lift the load.
•	Remove the balls from the red bucket but keep the balls in the blue bucket. Move the lever so the fulcrum is one spot farther away from the load.
•	One by one, add balls to the red bucket to determine the amount of force required to lift the same load with a different fulcrum point.
•	Continue experiment by moving the lever so the fulcrum is one spot further away from the load.
Experiment 2: Feel the Force
•	Identify the red bucket as the force and the blue bucket as the load.
•	Begin the experiment by placing the lever on the fulcrum point closest to the blue bucket.
•	Place 12 balls in the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	Students press down on the red bucket feeling the amount of force they must exert to lift the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	Move the lever so the fulcrum is closer to the red bucket. Students compare the force needed to lift the blue bucket (load) with the new fulcrum point.
•	Repeat the experiment using various fulcrum points.
Experiment 3:
•	Identify the red bucket as the force and the blue bucket as the load.
•	Begin the experiment by placing the lever on the fulcrum point closest to the blue bucket, representing the load.
•	Place 3 balls in the red bucket, representing the force.
•	One by one, add balls to the blue bucket to determine the amount of load that 3 balls can lift. When the blue bucket begins to go down, that is the max load that 3 balls can lift.
•	Remove the balls from the blue bucket, but keep the balls in the red bucket. Move the lever so the fulcrum is one spot farther away from the load.
•	One by one, add balls to the blue bucket to determine the amount of load that 3 balls can lift. When the blue bucket begins to go down, that is the max load that 3 balls can lift.
•	Continue experiment by moving the lever so the fulcrum is one spot farther away from the load.
The Lesson:
•	What are the 3 classes of levers? Sketch an example of each.
•	What class of lever is represented by the Learn Lever'"?
•	How does the location of the fulcrum affect the lever?
•	As the fulcrum moves closer to the load, is more or less force needed?
•	Identify common household items that are levers.
•	When applying force by hand, number the fulcrum points from easiest to hardest.
•	When the same amount of force is applied to the lever at different fulcrum points. How does this affect the load?
•	What is the benefit of using levers?
Options:
•	Use a different number of balls to represent various load weights.