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Science Y3/Y4 – Forces – week 6

PUSHING AND PULLING

Truth to Teach (Source)

To learn that objects cannot move by themselves. They need a push or a pull.

To learn to draw arrows to indicate the direction of a force.

To appreciate whether an object is being moved by a push or a pull.

Way to Work (Means)

1. Review previous lessons.

2. Put various toy vehicles on the floor and ask the children if they will start moving on their
own. Why not? What does every object need in order to move? (A force, a push or a
pull.)

3. Using a toy lorry on which books can be piled and to which an elastic band is fitted on to
the front, show the children that the harder you pull, the longer the elastic band
stretches. Vary the weight of books on the lorry and measure the length of the band.
Show that you need a lot of force to get the lorry moving but less force to maintain the
movement. More able children could draw graphs of results if time allows.

4. Explain that we can show the direction of a force using an arrow. Give examples before
letting the children complete the first part of the worksheet.

5. Gather the class back to perform the push/pull experiment using a heavy box of bricks.
Let each child choose whether to push or pull it then let the children draw a graph to show
the most popular way of moving the box.

6. Perform other actions to show them other examples of pushing and pulling, e.g. putting on
a coat, pulling a nail out of wood, opening a tin can, opening a box.

7. Encourage the children to look for other pushes and pulls in their homes. Talk about
moving objects safely, e.g. not pushing or pulling objects which are too heavy for them, not
pushing and pulling one another so that people lose their balance.

Learning for Life (Fulfilment)

The children should have gained further awareness of forces in operation around them and to
appreciate the possible dangers of certain actions.

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