21. Wheels at Work

Wheels at Work by Bernie Zubrowski (William and Morrow Co, Inc.) 1986

Genre

Non-fiction; Science

Honors

In 2005 Zubrowski was honored with an SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books for his body of work.

Review

Wheels at Work details both the science/history of the use of wheels in machines and a series of experiments that readers can perform to help them better understand wheels and the function of simple machines.  Zubrowski begins with five simple machines: pully, windlass, gear, water wheel, and paddle wheel.  He shows readers how to make each out of household materials.  He suggests experiments, and provides a series of questions for experimenters to consider.  Then, he discusses the science behind the experiments and why the machines work better when used in a particular configuration.  He also encourages the creation of inventions using the wheeled machines (he provides directions for a bubble blowing machine for inspiration).

Opinion

The text is written at a very accessible level, and the diagrams, while hand drawn, are quite easy to follow.  I was struck, though, that many of the machines he suggests making might benefit from adult supervision: punching holes in coffee cans and driving nails through broom sticks would benefit from permission and oversight.  

Ideas

It would be fun to perform the activities as part of a library event on science.  The hands-on experimenting is likely to spark the interest of many students.  Even better, the experiments as Zubrowski writes them require observations and encourage trial and error.  It would also be fun to see what inventions children would come up with.