Forces and Motion Unit Activity and Lab Bundle

Ignite curiosity and deepen understanding of physics with our comprehensive Forces and Motion Unit Activity Bundle. This engaging collection features interactive worksheets, hands-on labs, and vivid visual diagrams tailored to help students understand and master core concepts such as magnitude, direction, reference points, types of forces, mass, weight, motion and spring scale measurements. Perfect for classroom or home school, these resources provide clear explanations and practical activities that transform complex science ideas into fun, accessible lessons.

This bundle includes six separate activities that introduce forces and motion and provides a presentation rubric that will assess their knowledge. Includes lessons about: balanced and unbalanced forces; F=ma; mass versus weight; reference points; measuring forces with spring scales; magnitude and direction; net force; force diagrams; types of forces: friction, gravity, buoyant, etc; and motion. This bundle usually takes several weeks to complete.

To use this product, you will need:

• Pencil

• Copy of activity packets (INCLUDED) for each student

• Scale (to measure mass)

• Spring Scales

• Objects with different masses (which can be attached to a spring scale) 

• “Magnitude and Net Force” manipulatives (INCLUDED)

• Optional: calculators for each student

• Optional: coloring utensils

This product includes:

1. Teacher Prep Info

2. Materials Needed

3. Procedure

4. Teacher Tips

5. “Different Amounts of Force” Packet

6. “Spring Scale Lab” Packet

7. “Magnitude and Net Force” Packet

8. “Football Reference Points” Packet

9. “Forces Presentation” Packet

10. “Reference Point” Packet

11. Student Packet Answers

Each activity is explained below:

Different Amounts of Force

Students measure the mass of an object (or you can research if it's a basic object like a 2" binder, stapler, textbook, etc), then they determine the weight of the object on the planets and other locations throughout the solar system using the formula F=ma. A few students needed two days to finish. This lesson teaches about gravity, mass vs weight, force diagrams, f=ma, acceleration and Newtons.

Spring Scale Lab

Students learn how to measure amounts of forces using spring scales and mass. The students needed two days to complete this lab. This lesson teaches about measuring forces, mass, weight, spring scales and force diagrams.

Magnitude and Net Force

Students measure the magnitude of forces by using manipulatives (included) that the students can cut out (or you can cut and laminate-that's what I did!). They use those to find the net force in several different scenarios and they discover what happens when net force equals zero. The students needed two days to finish this activity. This lesson teaches about measuring forces, net force, direction and magnitude.

Forces Presentation

The students prepare (throughout unit) a presentation about a particular kind of force: friction, gravity, buoyant, air resistance, etc. I had the students work in groups of three and they worked on it throughout the whole unit and I used several separate periods to work on their presentations. They presented in two separate days. This lesson teaches about different types of forces, history of different forces, applications, force diagrams and demonstrations. INCLUDES rubric.

Football Reference Points

The students use the platform of football to learn about reference points, motion and direction. They learn to draw diagrams and figure out motion based on perspectives. This lesson took most classes two days to complete.

Reference Point

This activity allows the students to use logic, maps and mathematics to figure out who robbed a bank in the city of Reference Point. They have a map of the city and several clues to help them eliminate those who have the wrong perspective. This lesson teaches about reference points, motion, logic and real world scenarios. Many students needed two days to figure it out.

Join my email list here to learn about ways to encourage students to experience the content!

You can also follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at edventureswithmrsd@gmail.com.

Thank you!