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Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

Design and make a wheeled toy that rolls straight and far

Physical World, forces and energy in products, with Design and Production (NSW 2017); Design and Technologies, Engineering principles and systems and Processes and production skills; Science understanding, Physical sciences (ACARA v9)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

The materials and parts chosen for wheels and axles decide how well a product moves.

Safety card

Low riskAn adult supervises

Hazards

  • Skewer points; hot glue if an adult uses a glue gun

Controls

  • Points removed before the lesson; any glue gun is used by the adult only

Note

No chemicals; any hot glue is applied by the adult. Record the activity on the school's risk assessment (Primary School RiskAssess, Ecosolve Australia, riskassess.com.au).

What you need

  • A cardboard body 15 cm by 8 cm; two straws for axle sleeves; two wooden skewers (points removed) for axles
  • Wheel choices: four plastic bottle tops, four cardboard circles, four wooden discs (all pre-drilled)
  • Masking tape, PVA glue, a 1.00 m ramp with a 20 cm rise, and a 4 m floor tape marked every 10 cm

How to do it

  1. Draw the design and label the wheel material you will test first.
  2. Tape the straws under the body, slide the skewers through, and push on the wheels.
  3. Release from the top of the ramp three times. Record the distance and whether it ran straight.
  4. Swap to a second wheel material and repeat.
  5. Write one change you would make and why, using the distances, and say which parts could be reused.

What you should see

Wheels and axles that turn freely in the straw sleeves, with wheels that sit square, roll furthest and straightest; wheels that wobble drag and veer; a straw sleeve that is not parallel to the other makes the toy curve. Distances are the group's measurement. The learner knows it worked when the toy runs at least the length of the ramp on the floor three times without veering off the tape.

What changes

What you change
wheel material
What you measure
distance rolled (cm); straight or veering
What you keep the same
  • same body and axles
  • same ramp release
  • three trials

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • Bigger wheels are always better.
  • The toy needs a push all the way to keep rolling.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. Current syllabus; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare, 2027 start teaching the 2024 syllabus. Code read from the official syllabus document on 2026-09-22.ST1-9PW-STST1-2DP-T
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.ST1-DDT-01ST1-SCI-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9TDE2K02AC9TDE2P01AC9TDE2P02AC9TDE2P03AC9S1U03

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9TDE2K02
  2. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  3. curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2024/content/stage-1
  4. primaryconnections.org.au/v84-sequences/push-pull
  5. primaryconnections.org.au/teaching-sequences/year-1/forces-fun

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