Lesson plan

Windlass

windlass lifting road bridge over Huddersfield Broad Canal The windlass is a type of horizontal winch used to move heavy weights, featuring a cylinder (barrel) operated by a crank to wind a rope. While the core mechanism is a simple winch, larger, historical, or maritime versions often include secondary pulling spools, or "winch heads," at the ends for handling multiple lines. The Greek scientist Archimedes was the inventor of the windlass. A surviving medieval windlass, dated to –1400, is in the Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield. The oldest depiction of a windlass for raising water can be found in the Book of Agriculture published in 1313 by the Chinese official Wang Zhen of the Yuan Dynasty ( 1290–1333).

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Article summary

windlass lifting road bridge over Huddersfield Broad Canal The windlass is a type of horizontal winch used to move heavy weights, featuring a cylinder (barrel) operated by a crank to wind a rope. While the core mechanism is a simple winch, larger, historical, or maritime versions often include secondary pulling spools, or "winch heads," at the ends for handling multiple lines. The Greek scientist Archimedes was the inventor of the windlass. A surviving medieval windlass, dated to –1400, is in the Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield. The oldest depiction of a windlass for raising water can be found in the Book of Agriculture published in 1313 by the Chinese official Wang Zhen of the Yuan Dynasty ( 1290–1333).

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1313 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1313". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365895005

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.