Force
Forces and Motion

Forces spectacles II: the sequel!

Classroom Activity for 11-14 Supporting Physics Teaching

What the Activity is for

This activity allows pupils to investigate some more complex real life situations and to consider the forces acting, by annotating diagrams.

What to Prepare

  • an adaptable diagram

Prepare your own with fixed arrows, by selecting an image, and arranging it so that arrows can be drawn on the image, so:

You could do this either by drawing over a phtograph, or by using cardboard arrows, or using software that allows arrows of defined length, colour and direction to be placed over an image.

What Happens During this Activity

These photographs might best be displayed on a screen, perhaps an interactive white board. Alternatively the still photos can be copied and laminated. Then lead a discussion that focuses on a single object at a time, seeing it through the forces spectacles. This will lead to a useful model of that object, producing a force-led description of the object.

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