NGSS K-PS2-1
The Standard
Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.
Next Generation Science Standards
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students plan and carry out a simple test using pushes or pulls. They change either the strength or direction, observe the motion, and compare what happened.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can set up a simple test that changes either strength or direction. They can describe how the change affected an object's speed, distance, stopping, or direction.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may label every force as a push, even when a string pulls an object. They may change both strength and direction during a test, making the results hard to compare.
How to Assess It
- Give each student a toy car and a tape starting line. Ask them to compare a gentle push and a strong push, then draw where the car stopped.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Push toy cars gently and strongly from the same tape line, then mark each stopping place with a sticky note.
Ask, “What changed when you pushed harder?” and have students answer with a drawing and one spoken sentence.
Play Force Detective by showing picture cards of actions and having students sort them into push, pull, or stop groups.
Test how gently and strongly pushing a playground swing changes its motion, while keeping the push direction the same.
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Printable K-PS2-1 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to K-PS2-1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- K-PS2-2
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.
- 3-PS2-1
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
- MS-PS2-2
Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object's motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
- MS-PS2-5
Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though th...
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