Celebrate Memorial Day
Create a Flag Raiser using a Pulley System
Memorial Day isn’t just another day off from school or work! On Memorial Day, we remember, honor, and mourn the military personnel that died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. One way we celebrate the holiday is to put flags up all around the United States. Imagine raising a flag up a flagpole all by yourself. This is where the pulley system comes into play. A pulley is a simple machine that consists of a grooved wheel which is turned by a rope or belt and stays in place as it turns. The cord moves over the wheel, and a load is raised as the cord is pulled. Placing a fixed pulley at the top of a tall flagpole makes the job raising a flag easier than if you had to carry the flag up the pole. A fixed pulley makes work easier by changing the direction of the effort of force applied.
Design Challenge: You have been asked to raise the American Flag on Memorial Day, at the Veterans’ Cemetery in Millsboro and Bear, Delaware. Once you finished raising the flag in Millsboro, you drove up to Bear. When you arrived at the Flag Pole, you noticed there was no rope to pull the flag up. So.. as any good patriot, you decided to create a flag raiser. Below are the directions that you used. Try to recreate that flag raiser!
Materials
Pencil
Large, empty thread spool
Scissors
Ruler
String
Sheet of typing paper
2 sheets of construction paper (blue and red)
Glue
Masking tape
Directions