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

1. On the Moon, an astronaut dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time. What happened? (They floated away / The feather landed first / The hammer landed first / They hit the ground together) → They hit the ground togetherPrompt: The Moon has no air.
2. Gravity: which statement is true? (There is no gravity in space. / Gravity only acts on things that are falling. / Without air resistance, a heavy and a light object fall at the same rate. / Heavy objects always fall faster than light ones.) → Without air resistance, a heavy and a light object fall at the same rate.Prompt: What keeps the Moon going round the Earth?
3. Gravity: which statement is NOT true? (Gravity is a force that attracts objects with mass towards each other. / Without air resistance, a heavy and a light object fall at the same rate. / There is no gravity in space. / Gravity is weaker on the Moon than on Earth.) → There is no gravity in space.Prompt: Why does the space station stay in orbit?

• Drop a sheet of paper and a scrunched-up sheet together and ask why one falls faster.
• Share the objective: Levers, pulleys and gears: small force, big effect. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which simple machine is used here: raising a flag up a flagpole?
• Step 1: A pulley is a wheel with a rope that changes the direction of a pull and can share a load.
• Step 2: So the answer is: pulley
• Answer: pulley
• 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. Which simple machine is used here: a well bucket on a rope? (lever / pulley / gears) → pulleyPrompt: A bar on a pivot, a wheel with a rope, or toothed wheels?
2. Why is it easier to raise a flag using a pulley at the top of the pole? (It removes gravity. / The pulley makes the flag lighter. / The flag floats up by itself. / You can pull down to make the flag go up.) → You can pull down to make the flag go up.Prompt: Which is easier: pulling down or lifting up above your head?

• 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. A gear with 10 teeth drives a gear with 50 teeth. How many turns must the small gear make for the big gear to turn 1 time? → 5Prompt: For each turn of the big gear, all its teeth pass the small gear.
2. Which simple machine is used here: raising a flag up a flagpole? (lever / pulley / gears) → pulleyPrompt: A bar on a pivot, a wheel with a rope, or toothed wheels?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.