Mississippi Science P.5.6.3
The Standard
- P.5.6
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the factors that affect the motion of an object through a study of Newton's Laws of Motion.
Develop and use models to explain how the amount or type of force, both contact and non-contact, affects the motion of an object.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Motions, Forces, and Energy
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students draw models that show where a force acts, its direction, and its strength. They use the models to explain how pushes, pulls, and forces that act without touching can change motion.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student draws a longer force arrow for a firm push than for a gentle push. They use their model to predict a bigger change in a toy car's motion and show a magnet pulling a paper clip without touching it.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may point a force arrow in the direction an object moves, even when the force acts against that motion. Some think a moving object always needs a push, or that a magnet must touch a paper clip to move it.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Sketch a toy car pushed gently, then firmly, and a paper clip pulled by a nearby magnet. Label the force arrows, circle the force that acts without touching, and predict how the car's motion changes.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Push a toy car gently, then firmly, across a desk; move a paper clip with a magnet and sketch force arrows for each.
Have pairs explain whether a magnet can change a paper clip's motion without touching it, using force arrows in a sketch.
Play force match: pair picture cards of a kicked ball, braking bike, and attracted paper clip with matching force arrows and motion changes.
Show a photo of a cyclist braking; draw a force arrow against the bike's motion and explain why it slows.
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Printable P.5.6.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to P.5.6.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- P.3.6.2
Plan an experiment to investigate the relationship between a force applied to an object (e.g., friction, gravity) and resulting motion of the object.
- PHY.2.6
Use mathematical and computational analysis to explore forces (e.g., friction, force applied, normal, and tension).
- P.5.6.5
Predict how a change of force, mass, and/or friction affects the motion of an object to convert potential energy into kinetic energy.
- PHY.2.2
Use models such as free-body diagrams to explain and predict the motion of an object according to Newton's law of motion, including circular motion.
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