Gears are wheels with teeth that move when in contact with another teethed device. When multiple gears are connected and they move each other, they’re called gear trains. When one gear moves clockwise, the connecting gear will always move in the opposite direction. Try moving these gears in different directions and see how they move! Go ahead and make your fantastic gears gear wheels activity!
Parental Involvement: Low
Duration: 30 minutes
Skills Acquired: Cognitive, Discovery, Explore
Materials
- Corrugated cardboard
- Compass
- Pencil
- A pair of scissors
- Glue
- Toothpicks
Instructions for Fantastic Gears Gear Wheels Activity
- Use your compass to draw four circles of different dimensions (1 inch, 1.5 inch, 2 inch, 3 inch) on the cardboard and cut them out.
- Pull apart your cardboard and separate the corrugate. Cut a thin strip.
- Stick the corrugate strips around each of the circles.
- On a sheet of cardboard, using a toothpick pin one of your gears.
- Repeat the same and pin each of the gears on the cardboard.
- Place the gears however you like and watch how they move!
Your gear wheels are ready!
This is a great activity to learn how gears move! Gears are used in everything from cars to clocks. Place the gear wheels in different combinations and pay attention to how they move. Gears transmit torque (the twisting force) in predictable ways. For example, when a 3-inch gear wheel makes a 1.5-inch gear wheel move, the smaller gear spins 3 times. This happens because the 3-inch wheel has three times the circumference of the smaller wheel. When the smaller gear is on top does the bigger gear move faster or slower? How many turns does the wheel take? Experiment and find out!
Activity done by Vishwajeet