Ten simple machine words fill the crossword on this 3rd grade sheet. The across answers are axle, load, wheel, screw and pulley, and the down answers are force, lever, fulcrum, wedge and ramp. A box above the grid lists all ten words, and each clue gives a meaning or an everyday example, such as a seesaw for the lever. Letter counts sit in brackets after every clue. Page 2 is the answer key with the filled grid and every answer by number.
“Match the name of a simple machine, or a force word, to its description.”
All ten clues do this, from the pulley clue (a grooved wheel with a rope) to the wedge clue (a sharp edge used to split or cut).
“Spell the vocabulary of simple machines correctly.”
Every answer has to fit its squares and agree with the words that cross it, so a misspelled fulcrum or pulley shows at once.
The ten words run along one line above a grid with nine numbered starting squares. Two words, wheel and wedge, both start at square 6, one across and one down.
Five across and five down clues, such as 'A rod that goes through the center of a wheel (4)' and 'The point that a lever rests and turns on (7)'. Students use the letter count to pick the right word from the box.
The grid filled in, with the across and down answers listed by clue number.
After a hands-on lesson
Give it once students have used a ramp, a pulley or a seesaw in class. They already know what the clues describe, so the crossword checks vocabulary and not guessing.
Start with the long words
Tell students to fill fulcrum and pulley first. Seven and six letters leave few options, and their crossing letters then give away the shorter answers.
Write a clue
Early finishers write their own clue for load or force without using the answer. Read a few out and let the class guess.
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