Investigating Forces
PROCEDURALPlan and carry out investigations into forces, including measuring force with a newton meter, investigating Hooke's Law, and collecting and interpreting motion data to test Newton's laws
Mastery Evidence
- Uses a newton meter correctly to measure forces in newtons
- Sets up and conducts a Hooke's Law investigation, recording force and extension and plotting a graph
- Identifies and controls variables in a force investigation
- Calculates acceleration from force and mass data and compares with experimental results
Assessment Prompt
“If [child] set up an experiment hanging weights on a spring and measuring how much it stretched, could they describe how they would make it a fair test, record the results, and show what Hooke's Law looks like on a graph?”
Curriculum Standards3 alignments
MS-PS2-1Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Middle Schoolcodes onlyKS3.Sci.Phys.MotionAndForces.9The national curriculum in Englandelastic potential energy stored in a spring; the elastic limit; Hooke's Law; restoring force
KS3.Sci.WS.SA.3The national curriculum in Englandselect, plan and carry out the most appropriate types of scientific enquiries to test predictions, including identifying independent, dependent and control variables, where appropriate
Prerequisites2
- Newton's First & Second LawssoftAges 12—13
- Moments, Pressure & Hooke's LawhardAges 12—14
Show full prerequisite tree
- Newton's First & Second Laws soft
Testing F = ma experimentally requires knowing the relationship between force, mass and acceleration
- Resultant Forces hard
Newton's 1st and 2nd laws are defined in terms of resultant force — the concept of balanced and unbalanced forces must be understood first
- Pushes & Pulls hard
KS3 forces as vectors extends KS2 introduction to pushes and pulls changing speed and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Force & Motion Vocabulary hard
Describing balanced and unbalanced forces as vector quantities requires resultant force, balanced forces vocabulary
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Forces as vectors with magnitude and direction is the formal underpinning of the force arrow representation
- Contact & Non-Contact Forces hard
KS3 resultant force and balanced forces extends KS2 distinction between contact and non-contact forces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Distinguishing contact and non-contact forces is clarified by drawing force diagrams showing where arrows originate
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must experience contact forces like friction before distinguishing contact vs non-contact forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Mass vs Weight soft
Gravity (weight = mg) is the main worked example for Newton's laws — mass/weight distinction gives concrete numbers for F = ma
- Gravity & Falling Objects hard
KS3 weight = mass × g extends KS2 introduction to gravity as the force pulling objects toward Earth
- Balanced & Unbalanced Forces soft
Balanced/unbalanced forces supports understanding gravity as an unbalanced force on unsupported objects
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Investigating balanced and unbalanced forces requires drawing force diagrams to record and analyse experimental findings
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must understand friction affects motion before investigating balanced/unbalanced forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Forces Vocabulary hard
Explaining gravity requires the force vocabulary: gravity, weight, non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Explaining gravity as a downward force requires representing it as a downward arrow in a force diagram
- Contact & Non-Contact Forces hard
Must know about non-contact forces before learning gravity as a non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Distinguishing contact and non-contact forces is clarified by drawing force diagrams showing where arrows originate
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must experience contact forces like friction before distinguishing contact vs non-contact forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Air Resistance & Friction soft
Newton's laws explain why friction and air resistance slow objects down — the KS2 observation of resistance now has a theoretical explanation
- Gravity & Falling Objects soft
Understanding gravity helps contextualise resistive forces opposing gravitational motion
- Balanced & Unbalanced Forces soft
Balanced/unbalanced forces supports understanding gravity as an unbalanced force on unsupported objects
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Investigating balanced and unbalanced forces requires drawing force diagrams to record and analyse experimental findings
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must understand friction affects motion before investigating balanced/unbalanced forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Forces Vocabulary hard
Explaining gravity requires the force vocabulary: gravity, weight, non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Explaining gravity as a downward force requires representing it as a downward arrow in a force diagram
- Contact & Non-Contact Forces hard
Must know about non-contact forces before learning gravity as a non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Distinguishing contact and non-contact forces is clarified by drawing force diagrams showing where arrows originate
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must experience contact forces like friction before distinguishing contact vs non-contact forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Forces Vocabulary hard
Identifying air resistance, water resistance, and friction requires these force terms
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Identifying and explaining air resistance and friction requires drawing force arrows to show opposing forces
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must know friction from surface comparisons before learning about air/water resistance as similar forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Moments, Pressure & Hooke's Law hard
The Hooke's Law investigation requires knowing the law before planning the experiment
- Resultant Forces soft
Moments and pressure are applications of force — understanding forces as vectors and resultant forces provides the foundation
- Pushes & Pulls hard
KS3 forces as vectors extends KS2 introduction to pushes and pulls changing speed and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Force & Motion Vocabulary hard
Describing balanced and unbalanced forces as vector quantities requires resultant force, balanced forces vocabulary
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Forces as vectors with magnitude and direction is the formal underpinning of the force arrow representation
- Contact & Non-Contact Forces hard
KS3 resultant force and balanced forces extends KS2 distinction between contact and non-contact forces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Distinguishing contact and non-contact forces is clarified by drawing force diagrams showing where arrows originate
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must experience contact forces like friction before distinguishing contact vs non-contact forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Levers, Pulleys & Gears hard
KS3 moments and mechanical advantage extends KS2 introduction to levers, pulleys and gears allowing smaller force for greater effect
- Balanced & Unbalanced Forces hard
Must understand forces and their effects before learning how mechanisms multiply forces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Investigating balanced and unbalanced forces requires drawing force diagrams to record and analyse experimental findings
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must understand friction affects motion before investigating balanced/unbalanced forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Gravity & Falling Objects soft
Gravity context helps understand why we need mechanisms to lift heavy things
- Balanced & Unbalanced Forces soft
Balanced/unbalanced forces supports understanding gravity as an unbalanced force on unsupported objects
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Investigating balanced and unbalanced forces requires drawing force diagrams to record and analyse experimental findings
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must understand friction affects motion before investigating balanced/unbalanced forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Forces Vocabulary hard
Explaining gravity requires the force vocabulary: gravity, weight, non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams hard
Explaining gravity as a downward force requires representing it as a downward arrow in a force diagram
- Contact & Non-Contact Forces hard
Must know about non-contact forces before learning gravity as a non-contact force
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Distinguishing contact and non-contact forces is clarified by drawing force diagrams showing where arrows originate
- Friction & Surfaces hard
Must experience contact forces like friction before distinguishing contact vs non-contact forces
- Pushes & Pulls hard
Must understand forces change motion before comparing movement on different surfaces
- Drawing Force Diagrams soft
Understanding pushes and pulls as forces is supported by the arrow representation of magnitude and direction
- Force & Motion Vocabulary soft
Understanding levers, pulleys, and gears requires moment, lever, and fulcrum vocabulary
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