edHelper.com Forces and Motion

How Does a Yo-Yo Work?

---

How Does a Yo-Yo Work?
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.06

Vocabulary

challenging words:

linear, kinetic, mechanism, momentum, angular, unwind, yo-yos, explanation, somehow, gravity, automatic, based, axle, rotate, works, operator

---

Print How Does a Yo-Yo Work?

Print How Does a Yo-Yo Work?  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

---

Feedback on How Does a Yo-Yo Work?

Leave your feedback on How Does a Yo-Yo Work?  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

How Does a Yo-Yo Work? By Sharon Fabian

---

¹     Somehow the words yo-yo and physics just don't seem to go together, but they do. Because if you want to know how a yo-yo works, the answer, in a word, is physics. The explanation for what makes a yo-yo go up and down, sleep, and do tricks is all based on concepts from physics. These concepts include kinetic energy, potential energy, and momentum.
 
²     There have been several kinds of yo-yos through the years. Each new kind of yo-yo used more ideas from physics to make it work better. Old style yo-yos had their strings tied securely to their axles. Newer yo-yos had their strings looped loosely around their axles. Even newer, automatic yo-yos have a built-in mechanism that make them come back up automatically.
 
³     Once you wind up the string of a yo-yo, any kind of yo-yo, and hold it in your hand, it has potential energy. In fact, it has not one, but two kinds of potential energy. It has potential energy because it can drop down, and it also has potential energy because it can unwind. When you let go of the yo-yo, gravity pulls it down. It is also forced to rotate because the string is fastened to your finger and also wound around the yo-yo's axle. As it drops, the yo-yo's potential energy changes to kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

Paragraphs 4 to 10:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Forces and Motion

Forces and Motion

---

Science

Science

Careers in Science         Caring for Earth         Clouds         Dinosaurs         Earth's Land         Earth         Earthquakes         Electricity         Energy         Erosion         Food Pyramid         Food Webs and Food Chain         Forces and Motion         Fossils         Health and Nutrition         How Things Work         Landforms         Life Science         Light         Magnets         Matter

Moon         Natural Disasters         Photosynthesis         Plant and Animal Cells         Plants         Rocks and Minerals         Science Process Skills         Scientific Notation         Seasons         Simple Machines         Soil         Solar System         Sound         Space and Stars         Sun         Tsunami         Volcanoes         Water Cycle         Water         Weather

---

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets

Back to School Graphic Organizers Alphabet Worksheets Sight Words Math Worksheets Mazes 50 States Education Teaching Monthly Themes January February March April May June July August September October November December

Fractions Place Value Time and Calendar Money Earth Day Solar System Analogies Nouns Following Directions Listening Capitalization Cursive Writing Patterns and Sequencing Dinosaurs All About Me Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade

Multiplication Division Main Idea Cause and Effect Measurement Decimals Rounding Order of Operations Verbs Community Helpers Adjectives Plants Grammar Addition and Subtraction Contractions Bulletin Board Ideas Word Searches Crossword Puzzles Printable Puzzles Reading Comprehension Reading Skills English Language Arts

Copyright © 2013 edHelper