ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “describe how objects move and how factors including their size, shape or material influence their movement”
Builds on what children already notice in play: things only move when something moves them. Here we name that something a force, a push or a pull, and we look at what changes how far and how fast an object goes.
A push or a pull makes things move
Things do not move on their own. To make a toy go, you have to push it or pull it. A push and a pull are both forces. A push sends a thing away from you, and a pull brings it toward you. Once something is moving, its size, its shape, what it is made of, and the floor it moves on all change how it goes.
Push or pull
A push and a pull are both forces. Pick one and watch which way the toy goes.
You pushed the toy, so it went away from you. A push is a force that moves things away.
Shape changes how things move
Round things like balls and wheels can roll, so they keep going a long way. Flat things like boxes do not roll. They just slide a little and stop. Give them the same push and the round one always wins the race.
Roll or slide
The same push moves a round shape and a flat shape in very different ways.
The round ball rolls and rolls. Its shape lets it keep going, so it travels a long way.
A bigger push does more
How hard you push matters too. A soft push moves a ball just a little. A hard push moves it a lot. The bigger the push, the further and faster the ball goes.
Big push or small push
The harder you push, the further the ball goes. Tap to make the push stronger.
A soft push gives the ball just a little go, so it stops close by.
A steeper ramp gives more speed
When a ball rolls down a ramp, a low gentle ramp lets it roll slowly. A tall steep ramp gives it lots of speed, so it shoots off faster and rolls further. Changing the ramp changes how the ball moves.
Roll down a ramp
Make the ramp taller and steeper. A steeper ramp gives the ball more speed.
The low ramp is gentle, so the ball rolls down slowly and does not go very far.
What the floor is made of matters
The stuff a thing moves on changes how far it goes. A smooth floor lets a ball glide a long way. A bumpy floor grabs the ball and stops it quickly. The same push can go far or stop short, just because of what the floor is made of.
Smooth or bumpy floor
The floor the ball rolls on is made of different stuff. The same push goes further on smooth than bumpy.
The smooth floor lets the ball glide, so the same push carries it a long way before it stops.
Why this matters
Noticing that a push or a pull starts movement, and that size, shape, what things are made of, and the surface all change how things move, is the first step in understanding forces. Children use these ideas every day when they roll, slide, kick and throw, and they grow into the big ideas about forces and motion in later years.
Quick self-check
1. What makes a still toy start to move?
2. You give a round ball and a flat box the same push. Which one travels further?
3. A hard push compared with a soft push will send a ball...
4. A ball rolls down a low ramp and a steep ramp. The steep ramp makes it go...
5. The same push moves a ball further on which floor?