Out of all of the lessons that I have taught in the forces unit, I would have to say that Earth’s Forces: gravity, friction, and magnetism has to be one of my favorites! Our Earth is an amazing place. It is created with the most fascinating laws, and how things work on this planet amazes me every day. There are 3 forces that occur on our planet that I teach middle school students, as mentioned, this is gravity, friction, and magnetism.
There are many approaches to teaching this subject, but as always, I like to get students excited about a topic and take a more inquiry-based approach before sharing all of the fun content with them. So, how do you get started? Get started with stations!
Earth’s Forces Stations
To begin these stations, you will need 6 stations throughout the room; however, there will technically be three because you will have 2 of the same thing. So, 3 stations times 2 will be 6 stations total. You will need a gravity station (2), a friction station (2), and a magnetism station (2). What will your students do at these stations?
Gravity Activity
Remember, do these activities BEFORE you teach the content. If you have already taught the content and are just looking for exploration ideas, that’s fine too. It does work for both!
Students will need:
- A pen or pencil
- A coin
- A loose, unfolded piece of paper
On a piece of paper, student will copy this simple chart.
For each trial, students should drop the two items listed AT THE SAME TIME. They should record what they observed for each trial.
Have students start to brainstorm what happened with each.
- Which fell the fastest?
- Was there anything that surprised you?
- Why did it take the paper so long to fall?
Once you get into teaching the content, you can explore the questions:
- Does gravity cause friction?
- How does gravity affect friction?
Friction Activities
There are two fun activities that you can use to explore friction. You can choose to do both or just one.
With this first friction exploration, students will need 2-3 textbooks and four or five round pens or pencils.
Have students follow these directions with a partner or their group.
- Stack two or three books on a table. Use one finger to push the books across the table
- Place round pens or pencils under the books, and push the books again.
With the second friction exploration activity, you will need a jar and access to liquid soap. Give students the following directions.
- Open a jar with your hands, and close it again.
- Spread a small amount of liquid soap on your hands.
- Try to open the jar again.
Here are some possible discussion questions that students can begin to think about.
- For the book activity, compare the forces used with the pencils and without the pencils.
- For the jar activity, was the jar easier or harder to open with the soap? Explain your observations.
Magnetism Activities
The gravity and friction activities were more of a guided inquiry approach, but for the magnetism activity, give students a chance for some free inquiry opportunities. Let them decide what to do.
Just give them the following materials:
- bar magnets with labels north and south
- cotton balls
- nails
- keys
- coins
- paperclip
- rocks
You can add more to the list, but just allow students to explore and see what they can find out on their own.
After these stations are complete, have a discussion with your students about some things that they discovered. After the discussion and seeing what they already know, you can dive into the content. Students can go deeper into the relationship gravity and magnetism and so much more!
Looking for this activity? You can find it in the Bright in the Middle Shop or on TPT.
Earth’s Forces Digital Interactive Lesson
To teach the content, the Earth’s Forces: gravity, friction, and magnetism lesson is a great tool to use.
This is a paperless lesson that students can work on individually, in partners, or you can use it for direct instruction. It can be used as a Google Slide presentation or activity. It also is compatible with PowerPoint.
So, what will students learn after going through this lesson?
Of course, they’ll learn about the forces on Earth: gravity, friction, and magnetism, but they’ll learn many subtopics within, such as
- gravity’s impact on Earth’s orbit
- mass and distance – gravity impact
- Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
- Gravitation acceleration
- Air resistance
- Friction that is helpful and unhelpful
- Mass and texture – friction impact
- Static, sliding, rolling, and fluid friction
- Friction and heat
- Earth’s magnetic field
- What happens when a magnet is cut in half
- And much more!
Digital interactive lessons are amazing tools for teaching students because they reduce student cognitive load by chunking information and there are many research-based strategies inside that help students remember the content and find success when testing!
There are so many options that are available in using this lesson to teach the content. Students love these!
You can also find this resource on TPT.
Help your students master science content!
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