Newton’s laws teaching resources
Worksheets and lesson ideas to challenge students aged 11 to 16 to think hard about Newton’s laws (GCSE and Key Stage 3)
Newton’s laws provide a wonderful opportunity for students to change how they see the world. Unfortunately, too many students leave school being able to memorise the laws but are unable to use them to explain their everyday observations. Indeed, many science teachers share the same misconceptions their students hold; I know I did. Hui Jin and Joseph Krajcik (2024, p.47) suggest that it is important to address three points in the curriculum when teaching Newton’s laws:
- Forces are interactions between objects, not inherent properties of objects or ‘impetus’ stored within objects
- When we analyse the relationships between forces and motion, we must consider all individual forces exerted on the object, including those not readily apparent in everyday situations (e.g., friction).
- Forces do not cause motion. Instead, forces are associated with changes in motion, and physicists have quantified the relationship between forces and motion as F = ma.
Thought experiments to see if students understand Newton’s laws of motion
GCSE and Key Stage 3 worksheet on Newton’s laws. Students can state Newton’s laws but do they understand them? Here we use a series of thought experiments to see if students understand Newton’s three laws of motion. This can also be used to support new teachers think about student misconceptions. (PDF)
Newton’s first law of motion
Key Stage 3 and GCSE worksheet on Newton’s first law of motion. Students identify and label forces acting on a tennis ball that has been hit by a racket. Many students will mistakenly think there is a force acting in the direction of motion i.e. pushing the ball along. Of course there is not, only air resistance and weight are acting. (PDF)
Understanding Newton’s third law
GCSE and Key stage 3 worksheet on Newton’s third law. The purpose of this task is to help students understand Newton’s third law. It is quite common for students to think that if interacting forces act in pairs, then a force in one direction will be cancelled out by an equal force acting in the opposite direction. Of course, the interacting forces act on different objects and so both objects will experience the force. (PDF)
Thinking deeper
- Why does the moon not fall into Earth? Hint, think about Newton’s first law.
- Why does coffee spill when the car stops?
Further reading
Jin, H., & Krajcik, J. (2024). On the critiques of learning progression research. In H. Jin, D. Yan, & J. Krajcik (Eds.). Handbook of Research on Science Learning Progressions (pp. 39-49). Routledge.
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