Mechanisms That Make Things Move · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.
En anglais

Turn one movement into another

Design & Technology · Designing & Making · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. A cam turns and its follower rod rises and falls. What decides the rod's movement?

    • The colour of the cam
    • The name of the maker
    • The shape of the cam

  2. What does a mechanism do?

    • It burns fuel to make heat
    • One movement becomes another
    • It paints parts a new colour

  3. A linkage can reverse the direction of a movement.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Maya opens a pop-up card slowly. Inside, two folded strips join the card base to the pop-up shape. As the card opens, the strips push the shape up. What mechanism is inside?

    • A cam with a turning lobe
    • A linkage of joined strips
    • A crank that turns round and round

  5. You want a puppet arm to wave. Which input suits the job?

    • A turning crank
    • A single fixed screw
    • A flat painted panel

  6. Two followers ride the same cam, one on a tall lobe and one on a low lobe. Which rides higher?

    • The one on the low lobe
    • Both ride at equal height
    • The one on the tall lobe

  7. Tom winds a toy. The crank turns a cam, and the cam lifts the toy legs up and down. Tom says the crank IS the whole mechanism. What is wrong?

    • The crank is only one part of the full chain
    • The crank works on its own, with no other parts
    • The cam is the whole mechanism, not the crank

  8. Nora's toy bird must peck down when she pushes a slider forward. Which setup works?

    • A linkage joining slider and beak
    • A cam that lifts the beak straight up
    • A crank that turns the beak round and round
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Turn one movement into another W1-mt_i6Je5hnxJz-s1

  1. The shape of the cam · The shape of the cam sets the distance from its turning point to the edge touching the rod. As the cam turns, that distance changes, so the rod rises and falls.
  2. One movement becomes another · Every mechanism converts an input movement to an output.
  3. True · Joined bars can flip a push into a pull.
  4. A linkage of joined strips · The folded strips are joined bars that push each other. As the card opens, they push the shape up, so opening goes in and lifting comes out.
  5. A turning crank · Turning suits a waving output, so the crank fits.
  6. The one on the tall lobe · The tall lobe reaches farther from the turning point, so it pushes its follower higher than the low lobe does.
  7. The crank is only one part of the full chain · The crank turns the cam, and the cam lifts the legs. The full chain, crank, cam and legs, is the mechanism, not the crank alone.
  8. A linkage joining slider and beak · The linkage joins the slider to the beak and can change the direction, so a forward push can move the beak down. A cam lifting up and a crank turning round do not give a downward peck.
Worksheet · LightMySky