• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Pushes and pulls). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Is this a push or a pull: pressing a doorbell? (push / pull) → pushPrompt: Does the thing move away from you or towards you?
2. A rolling ball hits a wall. What does the push from the wall do? (It changes the ball's direction / Nothing / It makes the ball heavier / It makes the ball bigger) → It changes the ball's directionPrompt: Which way does the ball go after it hits the wall?
3. Pushes and pulls: which statement is true? (Things can start moving all by themselves with no force. / A gentle push makes a ball go faster than a hard push. / A force can change the direction something is moving. / Opening a drawer is a push.) → A force can change the direction something is moving.Prompt: What can a force do to an object?

• Drop a sheet of paper and a scrunched-up sheet together and ask why one falls faster.
• Share the objective: Friction. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: On which surface would you slide furthest in your socks?
• Step 1: Smooth surfaces have less friction, so you slide further.
• Step 2: So the answer is: a polished wooden floor
• Answer: a polished wooden floor
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. On which surface would you slide furthest in your socks? (a grassy field / a gravel path / a polished wooden floor / a thick carpet) → a polished wooden floorPrompt: Which surface is smoothest?
2. Friction: which statement is NOT true? (Friction can make surfaces warm up. / Friction acts in the opposite direction to movement. / Friction is always unhelpful. / Rough surfaces usually give more friction than smooth ones.) → Friction is always unhelpful.Prompt: Think about walking on ice.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Friction: which statement is NOT true? (Friction speeds things up. / Rough surfaces usually give more friction than smooth ones. / Friction acts in the opposite direction to movement. / Bicycle brakes use friction to slow the wheels.) → Friction speeds things up.Prompt: Think about walking on ice.
2. Why do people oil a squeaky bicycle chain? (to make it magnetic / to reduce friction / to make it heavier / to increase friction) → to reduce frictionPrompt: Oil makes surfaces slippery.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.