This lesson will teach you how a little creativity and using your resources can make a job a little easier and can even be a little fun!
Simple machines are used all around us each and every day. The different kinds of simple machines include: the lever, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, and wheel and axle. When multiple simple machines are put together you get a complex machine. Let’s take a look at how a complex machine helped out my cat Kyle.
This is Kyle. He is strictly an indoor cat. He has no claws, so for him to go outside puts him in great danger. My family does a pretty good job of keeping him in the house, but occasionally he slips out. Once he is outside he gets confused and doesn’t know how to come back. He likes to hide out under the deck– which can be very hard to get him out from under. After hours of calling his name, we came up with a different plan to get him back. Take a look!
First of all, we came up with an idea. Then we looked around at our resources. Our only supplies ended up being: kite string, a cage, and cat food. Kyle’s cage isn’t his favorite thing in the world, but within it we put Meow Mix– which is his favorite thing in the world. We decided that he should be getting pretty hungry and that if he tried to go in for a bite we could shut the door behind him with the pull of a string.
The string was really what brought the whole machine together. In the picture on the left, you can see how the string was tied on the upper corner of the door. In the picture on the right, you can see how the string is ran through the inside of the cage and then out a hole in the right side of the cage.
Lastly, we put some cat food into the back end of the cage. You can see here how the final set-up of the cat trap should look. But, where does the string run to anyway? I’m glad you asked.
Here you can see what we chose to do with the string. On the left, you can see the length of the string running up from the lower part of the deck to the upper railing. It worked out for us to run the string over a plant holder and our door allowed us to run the string to the inside. We were still able to pull the string from the inside, which was great so we wouldn’t scare the cat away. If you ever try this you can use the resources you have and improvize. Perhaps you could just sit quietly on the deck and wait there for the moment to pull the string.
When the string is pulled the door should swing from position (a) to position (b). Here we have our complex machine which is a combination of a lever— the hinged door and a pulley– the string. After you have the trap set up I would suggest a few practice swings to make sure you have it just right for the big moment!
With a little patience you too will be ready for the moment that you capture the cat! So, if you have a runaway pet like mine try making use of simple machines around you to build a complex machine of your own!
No comments:
Post a Comment