Tinkerhall
For teachers and schools
A working model to point at
Tinkerhall is a small museum of working models of everyday machines. Start one on the classroom screen, pause on the moment you want to talk about, slow it to a quarter speed and zoom in on the part that matters. A ring and a short label follow the working part, so students know where to look.
- Pause and slow motion at ¼×, ½×, 1× and 2×: a tick of the wall clock, one beam line on the tube TV, the moment a pulley changes direction.
- Try it controls on each model: move the load on the lever, change how hard the heart pumps, close the switch in the circuit. Predict first, then try.
- A three-step tour and three facts for every model, with a short quiz, so a student can work alone.
- Blueprint cards: a picture of the model with three facts to save or share, for a worksheet or a notebook.
Safe for a class
- No account, no sign-in and no student data collected.
- No ads, no tracking and no analytics.
- Works offline once installed: nothing to load, no Wi-Fi needed in the lesson.
- The only time the app uses the internet is Request a model, and only when a person opens it; see the privacy policy.
The models are written for curious teens and adults. They are simplified on purpose, with illustrative numbers: good for explaining how a mechanism works, not engineering drawings.
Topics you can teach with it
Simple machines
Lever Balance (effort against distance from the pivot), Pulley Lift (a fixed and a moving pulley: less pull, more rope), Ramp Comparison (two ramps to the same height) and Gear Pair (a small gear turns a larger one more slowly, the other way).
Everyday mechanisms
Lock and Key, Wall Clock (a ratchet and gear pairs that make 60 turns into one), Desk Fan (a worm gear and crank that swing the head), Claw Machine and Dump Truck (the angle where the load beats friction).
Electricity, sound and light
Switch and Circuit, Loudspeaker (a coil in a magnet moves the cone), Tube TV (an electron beam painting a picture line by line), Security Camera (the view cone, and the upside-down picture on the sensor) and Eye Camera.
Motion, body and Earth
Pendulum Pair (short and long pendulums released together), Heart Pump (four chambers and four one-way gates), Volcano Tank, and Dial Indicator (a gauge that reads tiny movements).
Free, and Pro for more
Six models are free with no time limit, so a class can start without paying: Lock and Key, Desk Fan, Wall Clock, Gear Pair, Heart Pump and Switch and Circuit. Tinkerhall Pro opens the other 44 models and removes the watermark from Blueprint cards. It is a one-time purchase made in the App Store with each Apple ID, not a subscription.
There is no school licence or bulk code yet. If you would like Pro for a class or a school, write to us with what you teach and how many devices you use, and we will reply honestly about what is possible.
Missing something for your lesson?
Open Settings, choose Request a model, and tell us the everyday object you wish you could take apart on screen, or add your vote to one already on the list. The developer reads every request.