SuitabookHow machines work
David Macaulay
- Reading
- Read the story and explanations together, pausing at each movable feature. Invite the reader to predict what a lever, pulley or other machine might do before examining the example.
- Themes
- Understanding simple machines: The book demonstrates six simple machines and connects them with everyday objects, including scissors, clocks, mixers, bikes and brakes. The emphasis is on showing how and why machines work through models, illustrations and interactive elements.
- Story as a learning frame: Sloth and Sengi try to find their way out of a zoo with help from machines. The narrative supplies a playful context for the demonstrations, but its wider message or resolution cannot be established.
- Worth knowing
- The book presents technology through playful characters trying to leave a zoo. You may wish to notice how the escape premise relates to, or differs from, the factual explanations.