How Do You Lift a Lion? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series) - Softcover

Wells, Robert E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807534218 ISBN 13: 9780807534212

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, 1996

Synopsis

How do you lift a lion? With a machine that's big and powerful with clanking metal parts? There are machines like that. But others have only a few moving parts. In fact, some machines are so simple that they don't seem like machines at all―like the wheel, the lever, and the pulley. These machines can make work easy―even if you're trying to lift a lion!

About this title

About the Author

Robert E. Wells is the author and illustrator of many award-winning science books for children, including Can You Count to a Googol? and Why Do Elephants Need the Sun?. He lives with his wife in Washington.

From the Inside Flap

Explore the functions of levers, wheels, and pulleys, and learn how to lift a lion, pull a panda, and deliver a basket of bananas to a baboon birthday party!

Reviews

Grade 2-4?A basic introduction to levers, wheels, and pulleys. As two children lift a lion, pull a panda, and deliver a basket of bananas to a baboon party, Wells offers explanations for how and why these simple machines work. The hand-lettered text identifies technical terms such as fulcrum, force, friction, and other such words (also included in a glossary). One might quibble with some of the statements, such as "Leverage adds force to your own strength." Also the pen-and-acrylic cartoons are mediocre in quality and are merely adequate at depicting the concepts. A great idea with a fair-to-middlin execution.?Virginia Opocensky, formerly at Lincoln City Libraries, NE
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

How Do You Lift a Lion?

By Robert E. Wells

ALBERT WHITMAN & Company

Copyright © 1996 Robert E. Wells
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8075-3421-2

CHAPTER 1

DID YOU EVER TRY TO LIFT A LION?

You'd have to be awfully strong.

It's because of the force of GRAVITY. Gravity pulls objects downward. When that object is as massive as a lion, it pulls pretty hard.

With a LEVER, you can lift a heavy weight with much less effort.

The main part of a lever is a bar or rod which balances, or pivots, on a FULCRUM.

If the FORCE side is longer than the LOAD side, you will have LEVERAGE. Leverage adds force to your own strength. With a force side this long, you could lift a lion!

So, if you had a lever with a handle THIS long, maybe you could lift them a little!

Gravity is pulling down on that panda. And there's also FRICTION between the ground and the pallet. Friction, or resistance, happens when two surfaces rub together. The more weight pushing on the surfaces, the more friction there is.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from How Do You Lift a Lion? by Robert E. Wells. Copyright © 1996 Robert E. Wells. Excerpted by permission of ALBERT WHITMAN & Company.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807534218
• ISBN 13: 9780807534212
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Wells Robert E.
• Number of pages: 32