New
New
Year 2

Wheels and axles in vehicles

I can identify wheels and axles in a car.

Link copied to clipboard

New
New
Year 2

Wheels and axles in vehicles

I can identify wheels and axles in a car.

Link copied to clipboard

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.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. An axle is a rod on which wheels can rotate.
  2. Lots of vehicles use wheels and axles.
  3. Toy cars have some of the key parts of cars to make them move.

Keywords

  • Axle - a rod that holds a wheel in place and allows it to turn

  • Wheel - a circular object that turns on an axle

  • Vehicle - a machine with wheels used for transporting people or goods

  • Rotate - to turn or spin around a central point

Common misconception

Only cars have wheels and axles.

Highlight that many vehicles, including bicycles and toy cars, use wheels and axles.


To help you plan your year 2 design and technology lesson on: Wheels and axles in vehicles, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Give additional opportunities for construction to explore wheels and axles in play.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Range of toy vehicles/moving objects, worksheet, pencil, construction kits.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

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...

4 Questions

Q1.
What do wheels help objects do?
fly
Correct answer: move
stay still
Q2.
Which of these have wheels?
ball
Correct answer: bike
Correct answer: toy car
Correct answer: tractor
book
Q3.
What is a common use of wheels?
cooking
decoration
Correct answer: on an object to help it to move
Correct answer: on transport
Q4.
How do wheels move?
up and down
Correct answer: round and round
side to side

6 Questions

Q1.
What does an axle do in a vehicle?
Correct answer: joins the wheels to the moving object
decorates the vehicle
makes the vehicle faster
Q2.
Why are wheels important for vehicles?
They turn the vehicle.
Correct answer: They roll and allow the vehicle to move.
They stop the vehicle.
Q3.
Which of these vehicles uses wheels and axles?
Correct answer: tractor
fence
chair
Correct answer: car
Correct answer: bike
Q4.
What is a rotary motion?
Correct answer: The wheel turns in a circular movement.
The wheel goes up and down.
The wheel stops.
Q5.
What does the word 'rotate' mean?
to move in a straight line
to stop moving
Correct answer: to turn or spin around a central point
Q6.
What is the purpose of building a model vehicle?
to create a toy for decoration
to replace a real car
Correct answer: to understand how wheels and axles work

Additional material

Download additional material