Force
Forces and Motion

Thinking about actions to take: Levers

Teaching Guidance for 11-14 Supporting Physics Teaching

There's a good chance you could improve your teaching if you were to:

Try these

  • relating the action of the lever to conservation of energy
  • using separate terms, and separate shorthand, for distances moved and lengths to the pivot
  • drawing forces consistently, and as you did during the forces topic

Teacher Tip: Work through the Physics Narrative to find these lines of thinking worked out and then look in the Teaching Approaches for some examples of activities.

Avoid these

  • using a single example, which is liable to misinterpretation
  • reducing the topic to a series of algorithmic calculations
  • moving too quickly from the physical to the abstract and mathematical

Teacher Tip: These difficulties are distilled from: the research findings; the practice of well-connected teachers with expertise; issues intrinsic to representing the physics well.

IOP AWARDS 2025

Teachers of Physics Awards

The Teachers of Physics Award celebrates the success of secondary school physics teachers who have raised the profile of physics and science in schools. Nominations for 2025 are now open.

Start your nomination now