UNCORRECTED GALLEY
NOT FOR RESALE
SCREWS KEEP THINGS SECURE
SIMPLE MACHINES FOR KIDS
Diehn
Andi
Illustrated by Micah Rauch
PICTURE BOOK SCIENCE
Thank you for previewing a new book coming in Fall 2023 from Nomad Press!
Our newest set of Picture Book Science books features simple machines—screws, pulleys, wedges, inclined planes, levers, and wheels and axles!
Kids ages 5 to 8 love learning about simple machines, including the physics and history behind them. Did Archimedes really move an entire ship by himself using only a pulley? Were the pyramids made with the help of ramps? And how do all of these deceptively simple devices work, anyway?
Hilarious illustrations featuring a diverse cast of characters (and their pets) make learning accessible and fun. Plus, every book in the set includes a hands-on activity designed to encourage all types of learners. Photographs of simple machines in action and a glossary round out the reading experience to create a full experiential learning adventure that aligns with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards!
And every book from Nomad Press is paired with a free Classroom Guide, downloadable from our website, nomadpress.net/the-learning-center.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Sincerely,
Andi DiehnPub date: October 2023
Softcover: 9781647410940, $13.95
Hardcover: 9781647410919, $20.95
eBook: all formats available, $6.99
Specs: 9.5 x 9.5, 32 pages, color interior
Reading Level: Ages 5–9
Interest Level: Grades K–4
GRL: N
Bisac: JU VENILE NONFICTION / Technology / How Things Work - Are Made
OTHER BOOKS IN THE PICTURE BOOK SCIENCE: SIMPLE MACHINES SET!
SCREWS KEEP THINGS SECURE
SIMPLE MACHINES FOR KIDS
Andi Diehn Illustrated by Micah Rauch
EXPLORE THE BIOMES IN THIS PICTURE BOOK SCIENCE SET!
October 2023, Job #1041603
ISBN Softcover: 978-1-64741-094-0
ISBN Hardcover: 978-1-64741-091-9
Educational Consultant, Marla Conn
Questions regarding the ordering of this book should be addressed to Nomad Press
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. The trademark “Nomad Press” and the Nomad Press logo are trademarks of Nomad Communications, Inc. This book was manufactured by CGB Printers, North Mankato, Minnesota, United States
in the United States. Check out more titles at www.nomadpress.net
Printed
When we built a treehouse, We used screws to hold it together.
Screws in the walls, screws in the roof, screws in the floor.
Twist and turn, tighten and twist,
Now we sit on beanbag chairs in our treehouse.
The breeze outside knocks and asks, “Let me in?”
And our door, twenty screws strong, waits for us to decide.
Sure! Come on in, breeze, and visit our treehouse!
Poem 1
If you were building a tree house, what could you use to keep the boards together?
2
Maybe some NAILS?
How about SCREWS?
SCREWS are perfect for a treehouse!
3
4
The kinds of screws you use in your treehouse are fasteners. They connect solid materials and hold them together.
5
They’re a good tool for building the wooden WALLS, FLOOR, and ROOF of a treehouse!
Have you ever looked closely at a screw? What do you notice about it?
The long strip winding around the center piece is called the thread.
There’s a head with a notch where a screwdriver can fit and help you turn the screw.
The center piece is called the shaft.
6
As you turn the screwdriver, the thread on the screw cuts a path through the wood, making the screw STICK TIGHT!
7
8
The closer together the threads are on the screw, the better it will hold two materials together.
9
But, it will take more work, or more turns of the screwdriver, to get the screw in place.
10
A screw is a simple machine.
A simple machine is a device that helps us do work. It does this by giving us a mechanical advantage.
11
A mechanical advantage makes your pushing and pulling force much more powerful than when you use only your own muscles.
How does mechanical advantage work with a screw?
A screw spreads out a force along t he WHOLE LENGTH of the thread, making it more secure in the wood.
A screw is actually made of a different simple machine. The thread that winds around the shaft is an inclined plane, also called a ramp.
12
Other simple machines include pulleys, levers, wedges, ramps, and wheels and axles.
13
What do you see when you twist off the top of your water bottle?
A screw top!
Look inside the top and find the threads. These threads fit into matching GRO OVE S on the outside of the water bottle.
When you screw the top back on, it forms a TIGHT SEAL, so water doesn’t leak inside your backpack!
14
Many liquids are kept in bottles with screw tops. Look around your kitchen and see what you can find.
Don’t forget to screw all the tops back on!
15
Have you ever seen a bolt used to hold something together?
A bolt is another kind of fastener with a thread circling a central shaft.
16
But you don’t screw bolts into other materials.
Instead, you use them with a nut. The nut screws onto the bolt. Whatever is being held in place is SQUISHED between the nut and bolt.
17
Look at the back of a watch or calculator.
What do you see holding those tiny pieces together?
Screws!
18
Have you ever replaced a burnt-out light bulb?
How does the light bulb stay in place?
Light bulbs have a built-in screw!
19
Many of the screws we see every day are small, and some are very tiny.
People also use ginormous screws for different kinds of jobs.
20
These screws move large amounts of material—such as dirt or concrete—along their threads from one end of the shaft to another.
These are called screw conveyors.
21
An early kind of screw conveyor is called an Archimedes’ screw
.
Archimedes was the ancient Greek thinker who first described one of these.
22
Here’s how an Archimedes’ screw works.
One end of the screw is stuck in the water and the screw is turned. As the screw threads move around and around, the water gets carried UP THE SLOPE. BRILLIANT!
23
Screws have been around for thousands of years. The first screws were WOODEN, and they were used in presses.
The screws moved two pieces of wood together so that the olives or grapes placed between them would get SQUEEEEEEZED, and all their juices would run out.
24
These wooden screws were made by hand and took a VERY LONG TIME. They were never the same shape and size.
About 300 years ago, people invented a machine called a lathe that could make screws
VERY QUICKLY.
All the same shape and size. That’s when people began to use screws as fasteners.
25
Later, people began to make metal screws.
Now we have special screws for WOOD, METAL, CONCRETE, PLASTIC—all different kinds of building materials!
26
Look around your house —where do you see screws very important jobs?
27
Make an Archimedes Screw!
What You Need
clear flexible tubing - a piece of plastic pipe or a long canclear tape - bowl of water - food coloring
What You Do
• Wrap your clear tubing around your pipe or can. Keep it in place with the clear tape. This is your Archimedes screw.
• Splash a few drops of food coloring into the bowl of water.
• Set one end of your Archimedes screw into the bowl of water and, keeping the screw at an angle, start turning it so that water gets scooped up into the tubing.
What happens?
How does the water travel up the tubing?
Activity Time!
28
bolt: a strong screw used with a nut to fasten things.
force: a push or pull that changes an object’s motion.
inclined plane: a sloped surface that connects a lower level to a higher level.
lathe: a machine that removes material from an object as it spins.
mechanical advantage: the amount a machine increases or changes a force to make a task easier.
nut: a donut-shaped piece of metal with screw threads on the inner circle. Used with a bolt through the center to hold things together.
pressure: a force that pushes on an object. simple machine: a device that changes the direction or strength of a force.
slope: a surface that has one end or side that is at a higher level than the other.
screw: a simple machine that has an inclined plane wrapped around a central axis. It is used to lift objects or hold things together.
screw conveyor: a device that uses the mechanical advantage of a screw to move heavy things like dirt or water.
shaft: the long narrow part of an object.
thread: the raised edge of a screw that winds around.
Glossary
29
SIMPLE MACHINES
Pulley Screw Wheel
Incline Plane Wedge Lever
30
focus on science
CHILDREN’S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK
AGES: 5–8 • GUIDED READING LEVEL: TBD
If you were building a tree house, what could you use to keep the boards together?
You could use nails, but you might also use screws. Screws are one of the simple machines that are designed to make different kinds of work easier! Lifting, pulling, pushing, and fastening things together—all these tasks are more efficient when you use a simple machine.
In Screws Keep Things Secure: Simple Machines for Kids, young engineers learn how a screw’s shape can pull things together or push things apart or even move heavy objects from one place to another!
A poem, glossary, and hands-on activity make for a fun and experiential reading experience!
Praise for Forces by Andi Diehn
“Children, parents, and teachers alike can enjoy learning the charming, often funny, relatable, and accessible science within this Picture Book Science series offering.”
—Booklist Starred Review
Screws Keep Things Secure is part of a six-book set in the Picture Book Science series, designed to introduce young engineers to physical science concepts.
