Newton's First Law

Teach the laws in order and ask students to say which law explains each example. On the third law sheet, have students name both objects before they draw the arrow.

Read about inertia, then explain seat belts and the tablecloth trick with Newton's first law. The directions on the page read: Read the text and study the picture. Then answer the questions on page 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade forces and motion, 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 newton's laws. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Inertia is the tendency of an object to keep doing what it is already doing. The more mass an object has, the more inertia it has, so it is harder to start, stop or turn.

Force equals mass times acceleration, or F = m × a. A 5 kg ball that speeds up at 4 m/s² has a force of 20 N acting on it, the example on the sheet.

The two forces in a pair are equal and opposite, but they act on two different objects. A rocket pushes hot gases down and the gases push the rocket up.