Forces and Motion

Start with something students can look at or think about: a photo, a short video, a jar on the windowsill, or a question like "what do you already know about push and pull?" Then let them work through the first item together as a class, then finish the rest independently or with a partner, keeping a word bank or anchor chart in view so the vocabulary stays available. When you review, ask students how they knew, and let them point to the part of the diagram or reading that told them. These push and pull worksheets work well as a lead in before an investigation, as a way to capture what students noticed afterward, or as review before an assessment.

These push and pull worksheets for 1st grade give students a clear, visual way to work through one of the big ideas in forces and machines. Students label diagrams, sort and classify examples, read short explanations, and answer questions that ask them to say why, not just what. Each page keeps the science vocabulary front and center so students leave with the words they need to talk about push and pull accurately. Working through push and pull on paper gives 1st grade students something concrete to hold onto before, during, or after the hands on part of a lesson.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade forces and machines, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with push and pull. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Six paired situations, each asking whether it makes an object move faster or slower: a steep ramp against a flat one, a light box against a heavy one, smooth ice against rough grass.

Because only one thing changes between them. Steep against flat, light against heavy, smooth against rough. Changing one variable at a time is the beginning of fair testing.

That force and surface both change how things move. It is the bridge from naming a push or a pull to predicting what that push will actually do.

First graders learn that forces are pushes and pulls that can change the way objects move: making them start, stop, speed up, slow down, or change direction. They explore how applying a stronger force produces a bigger change in motion and how the direction of the force matters.

Push and pull is typically introduced in Grade 1 during a physical science unit on forces and motion. Teachers use playground equipment, toy cars, and ramps to give students direct, physical experience with the effect of forces before introducing the vocabulary and worksheets.

On a walk or at the playground, point out examples of pushing and pulling: opening a door, pulling a wagon, kicking a ball. Ask your child whether each action is a push or a pull and what it does to the object's motion. Complete the worksheet to reinforce the vocabulary and concepts.

6 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 1st Grade students, roughly ages 6-7. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the NGSS code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.

Yes. Nothing here assumes a classroom of 25, so they work the same one-to-one at the kitchen table as they do in a 1st Grade classroom, a literacy centre, or a tutoring session.