Florida SC.2.P.13.3
The Standard
Recognize that objects are pulled toward the ground unless something holds them up.
Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify gravity as the force that makes unsupported objects fall. They explain that a table, hand, shelf, or other support can keep an object from falling.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can predict what will happen when a support is removed from under an object. They can point out what is supporting an object and explain why it stays in place.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think gravity affects only heavy objects or objects that are already falling. Others think a supported object has no gravity acting on it.
How to Assess It
- Show a picture of a book on a table and ask, "What keeps the book from falling, and what will happen if the table is removed?"
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place blocks on cardboard, then pull away the cardboard and observe which direction the blocks move.
Ask students to write: "Why does a pencil fall when I let go, but not when I hold it?"
Play Support Detective by having students find five classroom objects and name what keeps each one from falling.
Examine playground equipment and discuss how seats, chains, platforms, and hands support people and objects against gravity.
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Printable SC.2.P.13.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SC.2.P.13.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- SC.1.E.5.2
Explore the Law of Gravity by demonstrating that Earth's gravity pulls any object on or near Earth toward it even though nothing is touching the object.
- SC.K.E.5.1
Explore the Law of Gravity by investigating how objects are pulled toward the ground unless something holds them up.
- SC.5.P.13.1
Identify familiar forces that cause objects to move, such as pushes or pulls, including gravity acting on falling objects.
- SC.6.P.13.2
Explore the Law of Gravity by recognizing that every object exerts gravitational force on every other object and that the force depends on how much mass the obj...
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