icon-background-square
New
New
Year 10
AQA

Lever classification

I can draw and label the different components of a lever system and provide examples of three types of lever in action.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 10
AQA

Lever classification

I can draw and label the different components of a lever system and provide examples of three types of lever in action.

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In our bodies, levers are made from bones, joints, and muscles working together.
  2. A lever consists of a fulcrum (joint), the effort (muscle creating the movement) and the load (weight or resistance).
  3. There are three lever systems in the human body.

Keywords

  • Lever - a rigid bar (bone) that rotates or pivots around a fixed point (fulcrum) when a force (effort) is applied to move a resistance (load)

  • Fulcrum - the fixed point around which a lever pivots or rotates

  • Effort - the force applied to a lever to move a load

  • Load - the resistance that a lever is designed to move

Common misconception

When drawing levers the body part needs to be included.

A lever will always be drawn using four shapes.


To help you plan your year 10 physical education lesson on: Lever classification, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Introduce the shapes earlier and have them on a post it note (1 per shape) ready for the pupils to move them around.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Post it notes, mini whiteboards.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

6 Questions

Q1.
Where in the body would you find a hinge joint?
An image in a quiz
shoulder
Correct answer: knee
hip
Correct answer: ankle
Q2.
Which one of the following bones articulates at the elbow joint?
An image in a quiz
scapula
Correct answer: humerus
femur
tibia
Q3.
Match the bones to the correct location in the body.
Correct Answer:shoulder,scapula and humerus
tick

scapula and humerus

Correct Answer:elbow,humerus, radius and ulna
tick

humerus, radius and ulna

Correct Answer:hip,pelvis and femur
tick

pelvis and femur

Correct Answer:knee,femur and tibia
tick

femur and tibia

Q4.
Which movement causes the angle at a joint to decrease?
Correct answer: flexion
extension
plantarflexion
abduction
rotation
Q5.
The shoulder is an example of a ball and socket joint. Where else in the body would you find a ball and socket joint?
Correct Answer: Hip, hips
Q6.
Name the muscle in the back of the lower leg in this image.
An image in a quiz
quadriceps
hamstrings
hip flexor
tibialis anterior
Correct answer: gastrocnemius

6 Questions

Q1.
Name the joint illustrated in this image.
An image in a quiz
knee
Correct answer: ankle
elbow
hip
Q2.
Match the shape to the correct component of a lever.
Correct Answer:bone,horizontal line
tick

horizontal line

Correct Answer:fulcrum,traingle
tick

traingle

Correct Answer:load (resistance),square
tick

square

Correct Answer:effort,arrow
tick

arrow

Q3.
Which lever component would be in the middle of a third class lever system?
fulcrum
Correct answer: effort
load
lever
Q4.
Which movement demonstrates a first class lever system?
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q5.
The load is positioned in the middle of which lever system?
first class lever
Correct answer: second class lever
third class lever
Q6.
Flexion of the elbow is a movement example of a class lever system.
Correct Answer: third, 3rd, 3, three