Everything for the Forces and Motion test: study cards, the traps to dodge, a practice quiz at three levels — Foundation, On-Level, and Challenge — and a lab where you sort the forces, label the magnets, graph the ramp test, and explain why a higher ramp rolls farther. Work here, or print it and use a pencil — both count.
A book sitting still on a table. Nothing is moving, so it looks like nothing is happening.
Balanced means the forces cancel, not that there are none. Two equal forces pushing opposite ways leave the thing still — and the moment one gets bigger, it moves that way.
Two things people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
A rolling ball stops because it runs out of push.
Push is not fuel in a tank. Friction between the ball and the floor pushes backward the whole way and slows it down. On ice, with almost no friction, it keeps going and going.
Friction stops it. Push is not stored.
⚠️People often think…
A magnet picks up any small metal thing.
Only iron and steel. A penny, an aluminum can and a gold ring are all metal and none of them stick. Test it before you decide — metal is not the same as magnetic.
Iron and steel only. Test it.
Push, balance, predict, prove
1Watch one
Two arrows on a box: one pointing left, one pointing right, both the same size. Does it move?
Compare the sizes: both the same.
Compare the directions: opposite.
Equal and opposite means they cancel out.
It does not move. Make one arrow bigger and it moves that way. ✓
2Do one with me
Fill in what the forces are doing.
What stops a rolling ball is
Two magnet poles that are the same will
In a fair test you change this many things:
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why does a still book have forces on it at all?
3Try one
A ramp table shows 4, 8, 12 cm. Predict the next row.
I want a hint first
8 − 4 = 4, and 12 − 8 = 4. The same jump happens again.
Where this goes
Where this lives
Brakes on a bike, a note on the fridge, a tug-of-war that goes nowhere, a car that slides on ice.
What this feeds
Next unit is life cycles and traits — patterns in living things instead of in motion.
Name one place friction helps you instead of slowing you down.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🪜 From a push to a prediction — the ladder
A force is a push or pull → balanced forces change nothing, unbalanced forces change motion → friction slows, gravity pulls down, magnets pull without touching → motion that repeats is a pattern → a pattern lets you predict → a fair test lets you prove.
Nothing starts, stops or turns by itself — a force did it. When you see motion change, find the push or pull. When you don’t, the forces are balanced.
Find the force.
⚠️ Traps the test loves
Balanced doesn’t mean ‘no forces’. Gravity and the table are both pushing on the still book.
A ball doesn’t ‘run out of push’. Friction stops it.
Same poles REPEL. Opposite poles ATTRACT. Say it out loud.
A magnet only pulls iron and steel — not paper, not plastic, not a penny.
A fair test changes ONE thing. Change two and the test proves nothing.
👉 Four forces — the chart
Force
What it does
You see it when…
a push or pull
starts, stops, speeds, slows or turns something
you kick a ball
friction
slows things that rub
a sled stops on grass
gravity
pulls everything down
a dropped pencil falls
magnetism
pulls iron without touching; same poles push apart
a note stays on the fridge
Push, rub, fall, stick.
🎯 How the test will ask
Two arrows on a box — “does it move?” (same size, opposite ways = no; one bigger = yes, that way).
A ramp table — “predict the next row” (find how much each step adds).
Two magnets drawn — “push or pull?” (read the letters on the ends).
An experiment — “is it fair?” (count what changed).
✅ Before the test, can you…
Say what balanced and unbalanced forces do?
Name the force that stops a rolling ball?
Tell which magnet poles attract and which repel?
Predict the next number in a ramp table?
Plan a fair test in four steps?
Pick your level
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Lab
Work like a scientist: label the diagrams, turn the table into a graph, then write a claim with evidence and reasoning. Every lab checks itself on the spot, and hints are free.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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Level
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Independent
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Supported
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Hints used
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Cards studied
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Lab
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Traps met
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Explained in own words
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Confidence
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.