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Year 2 Wheels and axles: vehicles worksheet

“Wheels and axles at work” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 design and technology unit “Wheels and axles: vehicles”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 9 to 16 of the year, 8 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Wheels and axles at work

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · Design & technology · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain how wheels and axles help vehicles move.

A Look back3 min

1.
A lever turns on a point. What is that point called? Write it.
2.
Which material is stiffer for a moving card, paper or card? Write it.
3.
This shape is a triangle. Circle the shape that would make the best wheel.
circlesquaretriangle

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ali has a toy truck. Its wheels are held on by a rod that runs underneath it.

A bus, a rocking horse and a swing door in a simple cartoon street

Watch me

The wheel is round, so it can turn.

The axle is the rod through the middle.

The wheels spin round the axle, so the truck rolls.

Now you

1.
Sara's shopping trolley rolls along the shop floor. How does each wheel move on its axle? Circle one.
round and roundup and downstays still
2.
Which of these moves on wheels and axles? Circle one.
a busa rocking horsea door

C Your turn6 min

Read each one. Circle the right answer.

1.
Which of these has wheels and axles? Circle one.
a bicyclea park bencha stone wall
2.
Which of these has wheels and axles? Circle one.
a wheelbarrowa flower pota garden gate
3.
Which part lets a wheel spin round? Circle one.
the axlethe seatthe bell
4.
Name one thing, not a car, that has wheels and axles. Write it.

Say it out loud: What did every vehicle we talked about have in common? Which things moved without an axle?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A flat cartoon bicycle with two round wheels and axles on a plain background.

Kit says: “Only cars have wheels and axles, so my bike has none.”

1.
Is Kit right? Write why.

E Think deeper3 min

A shelf holding a toy car, a toy train and a wooden rocking horse

1.
Find three things that move on wheels and axles. Then find one thing that moves without them. Write them down.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Wheels and axles at work · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Look for: Says pivot, the point a lever turns on.

2. Look for: Says card, because it is stiffer than paper.

3. circle

B

1. round and round If your child chooses up and down, they may be thinking of a bouncing ball. Point at the wheel and ask which way it spins.

2. a bus If your child chooses the rocking horse, it moves but has no axle. Ask your child where the rod would go.

C

1. a bicycle If your child chooses the bench or wall, ask whether either one has wheels. Then ask about the bicycle.

2. a wheelbarrow If your child chooses the gate, it swings on hinges and has no wheels. Ask your child to find the wheel on each one.

3. the axle If your child chooses the seat or bell, ask what goes through the middle of the wheel and holds it on.

4. Look for: Names something other than a car with wheels and an axle, such as a pram or a suitcase. If your child writes a car, ask for something else that rolls, like a pram or a suitcase.

D

1. Look for: Kit is wrong because a bike has wheels and an axle too. If your child agrees with Kit, ask them to find the rod through the bike wheel. Bikes have wheels and axles as well as cars.

E

1. Look for: Three wheeled things with axles, and one moving thing with no axle such as a rocking horse or a door.

Words to use

Say“Where does the rod go, and what does it let the wheel do?”

Instead of“Tell them the answer is an axle, without asking them to look for it.”

After the sheet

Turn a toy car upside down together. Find the wheels and the rod joining them. Spin one wheel with a finger and say: the wheel is rotating.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

7 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

What must it do?(with a plan)
Choosing the Right Card(with a plan)
Joining card together(with a plan)
Adding wheels to a vehicle(with a plan)
Designing a vehicle(with a plan)
Finishing a vehicle(with a plan)
Testing our vehicles(with a plan)

Every Year 2 design and technology worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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