• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Pushes and pulls; Gravity). 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: pushing a swing? (push / pull) → pushPrompt: Does the thing move away from you or towards you?
2. Which way does gravity pull objects near Earth? (down, towards the centre of the Earth / up, towards the sky / sideways / towards the Sun only) → down, towards the centre of the EarthPrompt: What happens when you drop a ball?
3. A rolling ball hits a wall. What does the push from the wall do? (It makes the ball heavier / Nothing / It makes the ball bigger / It changes the ball's direction) → It changes the ball's directionPrompt: Which way does the ball go after it hits the wall?

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

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Is this a contact force or a non-contact force: air resistance?
• Step 1: Contact forces act when objects touch.
• Step 2: So the answer is: contact force
• Answer: contact force
• 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. Is this a contact force or a non-contact force: air resistance? (contact force / non-contact force) → contact forcePrompt: Do the objects have to touch for the force to act?
2. A book rests on a table. Which two forces act on the book? (friction and air resistance / magnetism and gravity / no forces at all / its weight down and the normal contact force from the table up) → its weight down and the normal contact force from the table upPrompt: One is non-contact and one is contact.

• 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 8 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. Why do astronauts on the Moon still have weight? (The Moon's gravity acts on them without touching / There is air on the Moon pushing them down / They wear heavy boots / Friction holds them down) → The Moon's gravity acts on them without touchingPrompt: Gravity is a non-contact force.
2. Types of force: which statement is NOT true? (Gravity is a non-contact force. / Friction is a contact force. / Air resistance is a non-contact force. / Magnets can push or pull without touching.) → Air resistance is a non-contact force.Prompt: Does air touch a moving object?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-6.