Why does a spiral move things when it spins?
Look at the cutting edges at the tip.
A twist drill bit is a metal rod with spiral grooves. As it turns and moves into the material, the cutting lips at its tip shave off tiny bits called chips.
Try this. Trace the tip in the picture, then follow one spiral groove.
Follow the chips from the bottom of the hole to the top.
The spiral grooves are called flutes. They help carry chips up and out as the bit turns, keeping the hole clear. The cutting lips make chips; the flutes give them a way out.
Try this. Use the diorama to follow one chip up the flute.
Look for a curl beside the screw thread.
A screw has a spiral ridge called a thread. It acts like a ramp wrapped around the rod. Turning against the material helps the screw move in. A screw thread is a raised ridge; a drill flute is a groove.
Try this. With Big close by, hand-turn a screw slowly into soap or clay on a tray and look at the curls. Power drills are tools for adults; kids do not use them. Big stays close. Try turning a pencil in an enclosed hand sharpener, too.
Water rides from a low bowl to a higher cup.
An auger lifts loose soil or ice from a hole. An Archimedes screw lifts pockets of water along a sloping tube. A spiral slopes along its length, so turning against material can push or carry that material along. It needs something to work against, not just empty space.
Try this. Wrap a ribbon around a pencil and follow its sloping path with your eyes.
Little Wonderer leaned toward the magnifier. A drill bit rested on the bench. This metal rod had a spiral shape that wound around and along it. “Why all the twists?” Little asked. Big pointed to the tip. Its cutting lips are edges that shave off tiny bits of material as the bit turns.
How does the tip’s job differ from the spiral’s job?
Big slowly turned a screw into a bar of soap by hand. Little watched a pale curl gather beside it. A screw thread is a spiral ridge around a screw. As it turns against the material, the sloping thread helps pull the screw farther in. Turning can make something move along, too.
How could a sloping thread help a screw move in?
Their cutaway display showed inside a hole. The drill bit’s sharp tip and cutting lips made small shavings called chips. Its spiral grooves, called flutes, gave those chips a path up and out as the bit turned. “Like a spiral slide going up!” said Little. The hole needed room for the next chips.
Why does the hole need a path for chips to leave?
At the garden bench, Big showed Little an auger. An auger is a tool with a broad spiral for making holes in soil or ice. Its lower edge loosens material. Turning lifts the loose bits along the spiral. Little traced the path in the notebook: around, up, and out of the hole.
What do a drill bit and an auger both move out?
Back at the table, a sloping tube joined a low bowl to a high cup. Inside was an Archimedes screw, a large spiral that can lift water. Big turned its handle. Pockets of water rode up between the spiral and the tube. Little watched water reach the cup above the bowl.
How does turning help water reach a higher cup?
Little found more turning tools. A corkscrew spirals into a cork to pull it out. Egg-beater gears make a hand-crank spin the beaters faster. A hand sharpener shaves pencil curls. Little drew a spiral. “Why does a spiral move things when it spins?”
Which tools move material along, and which mainly spin it?
Read each little story. Decide whether to add or subtract.
Choose one story and explain why you added or subtracted.
1. Little counts 24 screws in a jar. Big adds 17 more. How many screws are in the jar now?
24 + 17 =
Add the two groups. You can make a new ten.
2. Big has 63 screws and puts 28 into a box. How many screws stay in the jar?
63 − 28 =
Start with the whole group and take away the screws put in the box.
3. Little counts 16 turns of a hand crank, then 27 more turns. How many turns does Little count altogether?
16 + 27 =
Add the turns from both rounds.
4. There are 54 pencil curls on a tray. Little brushes 22 into a paper bag. How many curls remain on the tray?
54 − 22 =
Subtract the curls that leave the tray.
5. Big turns an egg-beater handle 38 times, then 15 more times. How many handle turns does Big make in all?
38 + 15 =
Add the first turns and the extra turns.
6. A sand tray holds 71 small scoops of sand. A hand auger lifts out 34 scoops. How many scoops of sand remain?
71 − 34 =
Take away the scoops lifted out of the tray.
Say one clear command, then draw or write it.
First, …tell how to set the soap on a tray
Then, …tell how to turn the screw slowly
Look for, …tell where to look for the curls
Draw the screw in the soap. Add a curl beside the thread.
SAY IT FIRST. THEN DRAW OR WRITE.
A temporary space. Copy your words before closing or reloading; they are not saved or sent.
turnslowlyscrewsoapthreadcurlspiralnotice
Does your command tell what to do, using a word such as Turn, Look, or Notice?
Predict: will the chips stay at the bottom or travel up?
Say your prediction, then turn the bit.
What changed beside the hole? Tell how the tip and the flutes worked together.
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