Forces teaching resources

Worksheets and lesson ideas to challenge students aged 11 to 16 to think hard about forces (GCSE and Key Stage 3)

The video below provides a great starting point to introduce forces. We find these clips awesome because they show humans overcoming and using many of the forces that keep the majority of us firmly on the ground! How many forces can students name as they watch the film below?

When teaching forces a great way to introduce the Newton is to start with an Apple – remember the force of gravity acting on a mass of 100 grams is one Newton – 100g x 10m/s2 = 1N. 

Thinking deeply about forces

Key Stage 3/GCSE thinking task about forces. Use these questions to see what your students already know about forces or to extend their thinking. Students work in groups to combine their knowledge and tackle these challenging, thought-provoking questions. This could be most useful at the end of a topic when students can apply their knowledge. (PDF)

A demo to get students thinking about forces and vectors

Key Stage 3 and GCSE demonstration on contact and non-contact forces. In this demonstration students observe what happens to the reading on a balance when two magnets interact. This is a great opportunity to introduce forces, discuss the difference between weight and mass and contact and non-contact forces. This demonstration works nicely if you tare the balance so that you can see the negative/positive numbers. This can also give a sense of vector quantities for forces. This demonstration was contributed by Katharine Barber. (PDF)

  1. Air resistance
  2. Floating and sinking
  3. Moments
  4. Newton’s laws of motion
  5. Pressure
  6. Weight, gravity and free fall

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