LightMySky

Pushes & Pulls

Understand that pushes and pulls are forces that can change the speed or direction of an object's motion, and compare the effects of different strengths and directions

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What a learner can do afterwards

  • Describe a push and a pull as types of force that make objects move, speed up, slow down, or change direction
  • Compare the effects of a gentle push versus a strong push on the same object
  • Predict the direction an object will move based on the direction of the applied force

The lesson

A push moves something away from you. A pull moves something toward you. Both are forces.

Gentlepush2Strongpush6
A strong push moves the car much farther than a gentle push.
Try it together

Mia pushes her toy car softly. It rolls a little way. Then she pushes hard. It zooms far across the floor.

Soft push1Hard push5
Good to know

Watch which way you push or pull. The object moves that same way.

A push or pull is a force that changes motion.

Watch it

Where it sits

Where this leads

Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.

Then practise

8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.

Pushes & Pulls · Science, ages 5 to 6 · LightMySky