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

1. Which way does gravity pull objects near Earth? (down, towards the centre of the Earth / towards the Sun only / sideways / up, towards the sky) → down, towards the centre of the EarthPrompt: What happens when you drop a ball?
2. Gravity: which statement is true? (Heavy objects always fall faster than light ones. / Gravity is weaker on the Moon than on Earth. / Gravity only acts on things that are falling. / There is no gravity in space.) → Gravity is weaker on the Moon than on Earth.Prompt: What keeps the Moon going round the Earth?
3. Gravity: which statement is NOT true? (Without air resistance, a heavy and a light object fall at the same rate. / Astronauts float in the space station because there is no gravity there. / Gravity is a force that attracts objects with mass towards each other. / Gravity is weaker on the Moon than on Earth.) → Astronauts float in the space station because there is no gravity there.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: Mass and weight (W = mg). Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: What is the weight of a 75 kg object on Earth? Use g = 9.8 N/kg.
• Step 1: W = 75 × 9.8 = 735
• Step 2: So the answer is: 735 N
• Answer: 735 N
• 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. What is the weight of a 50 kg object on Earth? Use g = 9.8 N/kg. → 490 NPrompt: weight = mass × gravitational field strength (W = m g)
2. An astronaut's mass is 80 kg. Gravitational field strength on Mars is 3.7 N/kg. What would their weight be there, in N? → 296 NPrompt: Mass stays the same everywhere; weight changes.

• 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. What is the weight of a 8 kg object on Earth? Use g = 9.8 N/kg. → 78.4 NPrompt: weight = mass × gravitational field strength (W = m g)
2. Mass and weight: which statement is NOT true? (Your mass is the same on the Moon as on Earth. / Mass is measured in kilograms. / Mass and weight are the same thing. / Weight is a force measured in newtons.) → Mass and weight are the same thing.Prompt: Which one changes on the Moon?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-7.