Lesson 7 — Push and Pull: Forces and Motion

Summary

A force is a push or a pull, and a force changes motion. Learners push and pull a toy car, a found object, and each other’s hands, and name the five ways a force changes motion: it can start, stop, speed up, slow down, or turn (change direction). They feel the invisible hand — force — that moves their world.

Objectives

• Explain that a push or pull (force) changes an object’s motion, and describe friction. (D06.S3.03.02)

Connection

Kick a ball and it rolls — that is a push. Open a drawer and it slides toward you — that is a pull. A force is any push or pull, and a force always does one of five things: it makes something start, stop, speed up, slow down, or turn. You use forces all day, everywhere — carrying water, rolling a tire, throwing a seed, pulling a fish from a line. The same force moves a bicycle in any city and a cart in any village.

Materials

• A toy car or ball
• A soft rope or cloth
• Paper and crayons

Preparation

• Have a toy car or ball and a soft rope ready per pair.
• Clear a safe space for pushing, pulling, and a gentle tug-of-war.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The idea is simple and physical, so let learners do it — but teach the five motion changes explicitly first with a worked example (push the car: “it started and sped up; now I stop it”), then let pairs explore (guided practice). Frame force as neutral and useful — forces are not violent; the same push that throws a ball also holds a door open gently. Keep it safe and cooperative: the tug-of-war is gentle and even, and learners feel both the push and the pull rather than competing. This lesson sets up Lesson 8 on friction — for now, hold the question “why does the car eventually stop on its own?” open, and let it be answered tomorrow. Include every body: forces can be felt and described by any learner, seated or standing.

Procedure

1. Gather and remember (5 min). What makes things move? Try to move a toy car without touching it. It will not move. A force — a push or a pull — is what changes its motion.
2. Meet the five changes (10 min). Watch the worked example: push the car — it starts and speeds up; catch it — it stops; pull it gently back — it slows down; nudge it from the side — it turns. Say the five: start, stop, speed up, slow down, turn.
3. Push and pull (15 min). With a partner, push the car, pull it, turn it, stop it. Push your partner’s hands, pull them gently with the rope. Each time, say what the force did: “My push started it.” “My pull stopped it.”
4. Draw a force (10 min). Draw one push and one pull from your day, and write or draw what each force changed.
5. Close (5 min). A force is a push or a pull, and it changes motion. You are a force user — you push and pull your world into motion all day long.

Differentiation

• Support: Push and pull a toy with a partner and say just “started” or “stopped.”
• Support (non-speaking): Act out the push or pull; a partner says the motion change.
• Support (blind/low-vision): Feel a partner’s push and pull on your hands and name what each one did to your own motion.
• Support (motor): Direct a partner to push and pull the toy while you name each motion change — start, stop, speed up, slow down, or turn.
• Extension: Find one force that does three of the five changes at once (a rolling ball that starts, turns, and speeds up) and describe it.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner push and pull an object and say what each force changed (start, stop, speed up, slow down, or turn)?
• Self: The learner checks their drawing: “Did I show what my force changed?”

Home connection

At home, find one push and one pull you do every day — closing a door, drawing a pail of water, pushing a broom. Tell a grown-up what each force changes.

Resources

• BBC Bitesize (KS2), “What is a force?” — pushes and pulls and how forces change motion. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvr3nrd/articles/zywcrdm