Lesson: 20L ESR Gearing Up & Gearing Down

This lesson introduces students to gear trains and has them build a hand-crank gear train to demonstrate the idea of gearing up and gearing down.  In subsequent lessons, we will add gears to Riley.

1 ) Watch this video to learn about Gear Trains:

2) Now build this crank & wheel assembly with gears:

Crank & Wheel Gear Train Image

3) Turn the crank and notice the direction and speed the wheel turns

4) Swap the crank and wheel - what changes?

5) Try using the 24 tooth gear (shown to the side in the above image) instead of the small gear - what changes?

6) Do you see a pattern of how fast the wheel turns based on the location of the larger and smaller gears?

7) Answer these questions:

When the crank is on the larger gear, does the wheel turn faster or slower? 

Is this gearing up, or down?