Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Why do things fall down?
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/gravity/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/gravity/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Gravity is a pull towards the Earth that we cannot see.
- Everything falls, but air can slow light, flat things down.
- The Moon pulls less than the Earth.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Drop a ball and ask: why does it fall down and not up? |
| 10 min | Read the story together (on screen or the printed sheet). |
| 15 min | The drop race, in pairs, filling in the table. |
| 10 min | Play the drop race game together on the board, or the quiz. |
| 5 min | Talk: what did the paper on top of the book show us? |
Materials for the experiment
- A hard-cover book
- A sheet of paper, smaller than the book
- A soft place to land (a rug or a cushion)
Safety: Drop onto a soft surface and keep feet out of the way. Grown-ups hold anything heavy.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| Light things have no gravity. | Everything is pulled; air is what slows light, flat things down. |
| There is no gravity on the Moon. | There is, just weaker: about one sixth. |
| Gravity only works on the ground. | It reaches far: it keeps the Moon going round the Earth. |
Worksheet answers
- Arrow pointing down, towards the ground.
- Higher, because the Moon pulls less.
- Because the air pushed against it.
Quiz answers
- When you drop a ball, it falls… down. Gravity pulls it down, towards the middle of the Earth.[1]
- The invisible pull of the Earth is called… gravity. It is called gravity.[1]
- Where is gravity weaker? On the Moon. The Moon is smaller, so it pulls about six times less.[2]
- On the Moon, a hammer and a feather are dropped together. Which lands first? They land at the same time. There is no air on the Moon, so nothing slows the feather down.[3]
- Why does a flat sheet of paper fall slowly on Earth? The air pushes against it. Gravity pulls on paper too. The air pushes back and slows it.[6]
Going further
Try a feather, a leaf or a tissue. Which ones does the air slow most?
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] What Is Gravity? (NASA Space Place): reliability High
- [2] Planetary Fact Sheet (Metric) (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive): reliability High
- [3] The Apollo 15 Hammer-Feather Drop (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive): reliability High
- [6] University Physics Volume 1, 3.5 Free Fall (OpenStax, Rice University): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/gravity/sources/
Privacy: the lesson pages have no ads, no tracking and no cookies. Quiz answers and game scores stay in the pupil's browser. A short video for each age is coming.