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Everyday Machines / Week 05 / Friday
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Week 05 · The Toilet

Friday

Explain the flush
// A tank, a flap, a float and gravity
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Explain the Flush

Rocket draws a toilet with a see-through tank.

"Handle, chain, flapper, water, float," he says.

Raven asks, "What do you notice does the pulling?"

Nova glows an arrow pointing down. "You know this one."

How a toilet works

Press the handle. The chain lifts the flapper.

Gravity pulls the tank water down into the bowl.

The rushing water pushes the bowl water down the pipe.

The float drops. The fill valve opens.

New water lifts the float. The fill valve shuts.

The tank is ready for next time.

THE WHOLE FLUSH
  • Tap a card.
  • Then tap its spot.
1First
2Next
3Then
4After that
5Last
Draw a cutaway of a toilet. Label the flapper, the float and the bowl.

Tell a grown-up

Try it
Show your drawing to a grown-up.
Point to each part and say its job.
Say which way gravity pulls.
Say what the float tells the valve.
Safety first
Point at the real toilet. Only a grown-up lifts the lid.
TOILET EXPERT
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What pulls the water from the tank to the bowl?
What does the float tell the fill valve?
What does the flapper do?
How do you find a secret flapper leak?
SentenceTrue or false?
The tank is up high so gravity can pull the water down.?
The float sinks when the tank fills.?
The fill valve lets new water in.?
A worn flapper can leak.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEYou can now explain a flush from handle to hiss.

Next week

Next week we meet the light switch.

A flashlight will show us how a circuit works.

You explained a machine most people never look inside!

Tomorrow is Machine Day.

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