Summary
Everyone hates doing too much work. But knowing how work works is way important! In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby use a softball, a lawnmower, and some tall grass to demonstrate what you need in order to do the kind of work your physics teacher is talking about. Using a special equation, Tim estimates how much work it would take him to mow his back lawn. You’ll learn about the joule, a unit used to measure work, as well as how pulleys and levers allow humans to do more work with less effort by spreading the amount of work done over a larger area. Okay, enough dilly-dallying, let’s get to work!
Viewer safety
Ages 7+
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
A few questions to talk through after watching Work:
- What is one new thing you learned about work?
- Can you explain it to a partner in your own words?
- Where might you see this in the real world?
- What is one question you still have?
Quick work-a-long
Try it:
- Write one sentence explaining work.
- Draw or give one example of your own.