Push and Pull

Overview

Your kindergarten students are used to moving objects. They throw balls, play with toy cars, and sweep the floor, but how much do they think about these actions? In this fun, hands-on lesson, you will use a game (rolling balls) to explore how pushing and pulling affects an object's motion.

This lesson can be expanded with a second lesson exploring how objects can push each other, and how weight influences motion.

NGSS Alignment

This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:

• K-PS2-1. 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.

This lesson focuses on these aspects of NGSS Three Dimensional Learning:

Science & Engineering Practices	Disciplinary Core Ideas	Crosscutting Concepts
Planning and Carrying out Investigations. With guidance, plan and conduct an investigation in collaboration with peers.	PS2.A: Forces and Motion. Pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions. Pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of its motion and can start or stop it. PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces. A bigger push or pull makes things speed up or slow down more quickly.	Cause and Effect. Simple tests can be designed to gather evidence to support or refute student ideas about causes.

Materials

• Rope to play tug-of-war
• Balls; 1 per group. Tennis balls work well. Bigger balls like basketball or soccer balls are fine too.
• Soccer or basketball, 1 to be used to demonstrate to the class.