Science // Forces & Motion

Forces Vocabulary

Name and describe forces using precise vocabulary — force, push, pull, twist, stretch, squash, contact force, non-contact force, gravity, weight, friction, air resistance, upthrust — and distinguish between forces that require physical contact and forces that act at a distance

Ages
5 to 8
Type
Language
Builds on
0 topics
Leads to
5 topics

Quick check

If the learner slides down a slide and slows near the bottom, can they name the force responsible and spell it correctly?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Correctly name the force acting in at least five given scenarios (e.g. 'friction slows the sledge', 'gravity pulls the apple')
  • Distinguish between contact forces (friction, upthrust) and non-contact forces (gravity, magnetism) using the correct terms
  • Use 'weight' correctly as a force — distinct from 'mass' — in descriptions

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

0 topics

Nothing in the catalogue comes before this topic, so it is a good place to start.

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Forces Vocabulary

Ages 5 to 8 // Language

Leads to

5 topics
  • Friction & SurfacesRequired

    Forces & Motion // Ages 7 to 8

    Comparing how things move on different surfaces requires friction vocabulary

  • Contact & Non-Contact ForcesRequired

    Forces & Motion // Ages 7 to 8

    Distinguishing contact from non-contact forces requires these exact terms

  • Air Resistance & FrictionRequired

    Forces & Motion // Ages 9 to 10

    Identifying air resistance, water resistance, and friction requires these force terms

  • Gravity & Falling ObjectsRequired

    Forces & Motion // Ages 9 to 11

    Explaining gravity requires the force vocabulary: gravity, weight, non-contact force

  • Drawing Force DiagramsHelpful

    Forces & Motion // Ages 8 to 12

    Force diagrams use labelled arrows, so learners need the names of forces (gravity, friction, air resistance, upthrust, contact/non-contact) to label them correctly

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

Help 5–8 year-olds build and correctly use a precise vocabulary for forces (force, push, pull, twist, stretch, squash, contact/non-contact, gravity, weight, friction, air resistance, upthrust), anchoring each word to a directly experienced phenomenon and organising terms by whether something must be touching (contact) or whether the force acts across a gap (non-contact). This is a language-building topic; the aim is naming what is happening, not quantifying cause and effect. Weight is introduced as a force (the pull of gravity) and kept distinct from mass in age-appropriate terms.

Common misconceptions

  • Non-contact forces need contact or a medium — e.g. 'there's no gravity in space / on the Moon', or gravity 'needs air' to act.
  • Friction (or gravity) is a 'thing' or phenomenon, not named as a FORCE.
  • Using 'weight' and 'mass' interchangeably.
  • Believing only pushes and pulls count as forces, so gravity/friction/upthrust aren't recognised as forces.
  • Thinking water/air don't push — ignoring upthrust and air resistance as named forces.

Useful representations

  • Labelled images / word wall of forces in action (the canonical naming reference)
  • Contact vs non-contact two-column sort
  • Tap-to-reveal annotated scenes (tap an interaction → force name + meaning + contact/non-contact tag)
  • Sentence frames matching a force word to a scenario
  • Examples-and-non-examples cards for each term

Teaching practices

  • Introduce each term alongside the phenomenon it names — feel the stretch of an elastic band, the squash of dough, the twist of a lid — so the word labels a real experience.
  • Teach vocabulary explicitly: give a child-friendly meaning, several examples AND non-examples, and a sentence frame ('___ is the force that ___').
  • Use a contact vs non-contact sort as the central organiser; have children justify each placement ('does anything need to touch?').
  • Name the force acting in many varied scenarios (sledge, apple, boat, magnet) so words transfer across contexts; revisit/space the vocabulary rather than teaching it once.
  • Use word walls and labelled images of forces in action as a persistent reference.
  • Introduce 'weight' as a force (a pull) and flag that it is not the same as 'mass' — kept age-appropriate, since the full mass/weight quantification comes later.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Forces all around us: name and tag the scene

    Why it works: Each situation has a specific named force, and forces split into those that need things touching (pushes and pulls made by touching, such as a kick or a lead, plus friction, upthrust and air resistance) and those that act across a gap (gravity and magnetism, which are themselves pulls). The falling-apple and magnet-across-a-gap moments make the contact/non-contact distinction a felt contrast rather than a memorised definition.

    1. Explore a rich, familiar scene full of forces in action — e.g. a child sliding down a slide (friction), a kicked ball (push), a dog on a lead (pull), a floating boat (upthrust), a falling apple (gravity), a stretched catapult (stretch), and a magnet pulling a paperclip across a gap (magnetism).
    2. For each interaction, say or choose the correct force word and a one-line child-friendly meaning.
    3. Ask of each one: 'Does anything need to touch for this force to act?' and tag it CONTACT or NON-CONTACT.
    4. Compare the slide (friction clearly needs surfaces touching) with the falling apple (nothing touches it) and the magnet pulling a paperclip across a gap (the magnetic force acts without the magnet touching the paperclip), to notice the contrast between contact and non-contact forces.
    5. Zoom into the floating boat to identify two forces at once: water pushing UP (upthrust) and weight pulling DOWN.
  2. 2

    Feel the force, then name it

    Why it works: Force words name real experiences the learner can feel and produce, and each word has clear examples and non-examples that mark its boundary.

    1. Physically stretch an elastic band, squash a ball of dough, twist a jar lid, push a toy car, and pull a cart.
    2. After each action, say the specific force word and complete a sentence frame: '___ is the force that ___' (e.g. 'A stretch is a pull that makes the band longer').
    3. Sort a small set of example cards and non-example cards for each word (e.g. squashing dough IS a squash; pulling a cart is NOT a squash).
  3. 3

    Sort and label new examples (practice and retrieval)

    Why it works: The learner can transfer the vocabulary and the contact/non-contact split to examples they have not seen before, showing the words are owned rather than recalled for one picture.

    1. Classify fresh scenario cards into CONTACT and NON-CONTACT groups, saying why ('does anything need to touch?').
    2. Match each force word to the picture or scenario it describes.
    3. Label a new scene by placing the correct force word onto each interaction.
    4. Complete fill-in sentence frames such as 'Friction slows the ___' and 'Gravity pulls the apple ___'.

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