Forces Teaching Resources
Teach students about types of force and how they make objects move with forces worksheets, science games, activities and more teacher resources.
Stocked with printables and digital activities that are NGSS curriculum-aligned, this resource collection has been created to save you time on lesson planning. Explore our teacher-created resources to find everything you need to teach about balanced and unbalanced forces, the effects of gravity and magnetism and more core physics concepts to meet your state standards.
Whether you're new to teaching this section of elementary science or your'e looking for fresh ways to engage your students, our teacher team has you covered. Read on for a definition of force for kids and a look at the different types of forces with kid-friendly ways to explain them all.
What Is Force in Science? A Kid-Friendly Definition
We've all experienced force — whether we knew it by name or not. But how do you explain what forces are to your students? Let's start with a kid-friendly forces definition that you can use in your science lessons.
Force is something that causes an object to move, stop moving or change direction or causes an object to change its shape or size.
Let's say the window of the classroom is open, and a gust of wind blows in, blowing a piece of paper off of your desk. That is an example of a force at work!
The gust of wind interacted with the piece of paper, and the force of the wind caused the paper to move.
2 Types of Forces Explained for Kids
There are two main types of forces found in nature — contact forces and non-contact forces.
Contact Forces
Contact forces are a type of force that involves direct contact between two things or objects.
This type of force is responsible for many of real-world examples that your students have likely experienced such as the force of a friend making a swing move by pushing it or the force that a child has to exert to push a bicycle across the grass.
The example described above, in which a piece of paper was moved by the force of the wind, is a prime example of contact forces.
Non-Contact Forces
If contact forces involve direct contact, it's no surprise that non-contact forces are the very opposite. These forces can make objects move or change even from a distance.
Some common examples of non-contact forces include magnetism and gravity.
What Are Balanced and Unbalanced Forces?
We've also found it can be helpful to keep an explanation of balanced and unbalanced forces at hand when you're teaching your forces unit!
Tied directly to Newton's Law of Motion, these two concepts help explain how a force will affect an object's motion.
- Balanced Forces — When an object is subject to balanced forces, it will remain at rest if it was initially at rest. If it was already in motion, it will continue moving at a constant velocity.
- Unbalanced Forces — If an object is acted upon by unbalanced forces, on the other hand, the object experiences a net force in a particular direction. Due to this imbalance, the object will accelerate in the direction of the net force.
- If the unbalanced force is in the same direction as the object's initial motion, the object to speed up. If the unbalanced force is in the opposite direction, the opposite will happen. It will cause the object to slow down.
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Forces Quiz
Assess students' understanding of contact and noncontact forces with this forces quiz for 3rd grade students.
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Magnets and Magnetism Teaching Slides
Teach your students how magnets and magnetism work with this comprehensive and age-appropriate teaching presentation for elementary school science lessons.
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Magnet Experiment – Magnetic Flux Lines
Use this engaging magnet experiment when teaching your students about magnetic fields and their effect on magnetic objects.
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Electric Avenue - Understanding the Non-contact Force of Electrostatics PowerPoint
A teaching presentation introducing the students to the non-contact force of electrostatics.
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Types of Forces Worksheet
Teach students about the types of contact forces with this simple one-page worksheet perfect for 3rd grade science lessons.
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Balloon Car Experiment – Speed Racer
Use this hands-on balloon car experiment when teaching your 5th grade students about thrust force and its effect on the speed of objects.
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Exploring Magnets Worksheets
Download this magnetism worksheet to use when exploring magnetism in your elementary school science lessons.
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Push or Pull? Worksheet
Use this push or pull worksheet when exploring forces and motion in your 2nd and 3rd grade science lessons.
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Air Resistance Experiment
Use this engaging air resistance experiment when teaching your students about air friction and the effect it has on the effectiveness of a parachute.
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Which Force Is That? Worksheet
Use this forces worksheet to teach your 3rd grade students about the common forces of friction, buoyancy and gravity.
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Push and Pull Sorting Worksheet
Use this push and pull sorting worksheet when exploring forces and motion with your 3rd grade students.
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Balloon Rocket Experiment
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate how energy makes things move.
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Fun Magnetism Activities for Elementary Students
Try these fun magnetism activities for elementary students to teach about the push and pull forces of magnets.