Objective:  Discover how modern technology has made life easier.

Materials:  None

Vocabulary:  None

Duration:  1 day, 30 minutes

Activate prior knowledge:  Have a volunteer orally summarize story, The Courage of Sarah Noble.  Discuss.

Activity:  (1) Discuss the simple machines Sarah Noble and her father used or could have used.  (2) Have students draw pictures of the "old" and "new" machines.

Follow-up:  Read aloud to students the big book, Simple Machines by Melvin Berger.