Virginia SOL K.2.b

ScienceKindergartenForce, Motion, and Energy

The Standard

pushes and pulls can change the direction of an object

Virginia Standards of Learning for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use gentle pushes and pulls to make an object turn or move another way. They describe what they did and where the object went.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can make a toy car change course by pushing or pulling it from the side. The student can point to or name the car’s new direction.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think a push only makes something move forward and a pull only makes it move backward. They may also confuse direction with speed or believe an object turns without another force acting on it.
How to Assess It: Place a toy car and block on a table. Say, “Show how you can make the car turn toward the block, then tell what you did.”

Lesson moves

Roll a ball across the floor and have students tap it from the side to send it toward a paper target.
Ask, “Where should you push a toy car to make it turn left?” and have students draw and explain their answer.
Play Direction Change Bowling, where students roll a ball, then redirect it with one gentle side tap toward a named pin.
Test how people steer shopping carts by pushing one side, then connect the motion to turning carts around store corners.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to K.2.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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