Forces PDF

Forces is the first unit in the Physics course. In Physics you will learn about how matter and energy behave. Forces focuses on the pushes and pulls that make things move, stop, or change direction. Without forces there is no motion, no light, no energy, and no matter. In this unit you will learn about the four fundamental forces in the universe: gravity, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear. You will also learn about applied forces, how to measure force with newtons, and how to draw free body diagrams.

This unit is not a textbook. It is a guidebook book full of lesson plans and resources for the mentor to design a course specifically for his or her students.

This unit has sections on:

• Contact Forces
• Action at a Distance
• Forces at Work

Learning By Doing

This is an activity and lab based curriculum, where you learn by doing. Here are a few of the activities to choose from in this unit:

• Build a marble run and learn to adjust experiments and keep notes
• Weigh apples to understand what a newton is
• Karate chop an egg into a glass of water to learn about normal force
• Build a friction reducing hover craft
• Make an deploy a boat powered by elastic spring force
• Build models of systems with books and boards to learn to draw free body diagrams
• Make a gravity powered marble roller coaster
• Cause a plastic bag to hover with the magical power of electromagnetic forces
• Plus much more!

Each Layers of Learning Science unit includes library lists of books, a family read-aloud suggestion, lab experiments, hands-on activities, printables and paper crafts, sidebars for extra learning, and tools to help you assess student’s progress and mastery. You can learn more about how Layers of Learning works in the Curriculum Guide. You may also want to purchase the Science Guidebook for even more information on how to teach and learn with Layers of Learning Science.

See Inside

Here is a two-page spread from Forces:

This is the opening spread in the unit and introduces the topic. You can also see the Library List on this spread. You will choose books from this list or using the search terms at your local library.

There are many different activities, pintables, and games in each unit. You get to design your student’s learning by choosing your favorites and reading books and watching videos on the topics presented in the unit.

The sidebars line the entire unit and help you take off on tangents, learn extra information, have deep discussions, coordinate with Writer’s Workshop, or find high interest books to hand to your child.

Flexibility

This unit was written to be used for a month but contains plenty of content for many more weeks of learning if you choose. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, meant to be cycled back to in the future when your child is older. As such, it intentionally includes far more material than you can possibly cover in a month.

Forces is also part of the overall Physics course, the fourth Year of the four year Layers of Learning Science cycle. If you use the program in order, it will take you through the four branches of science from Earth & Space to Biology to Chemistry to Physics in a logical progression where skills are learned and then practiced and used. However, each unit stands alone and can be used independently of any other unit and in any order.

Printable Pack

This unit comes with a downloadable Printable Pack that includes all the student worksheets. The printables can be copied as many times as needed for your family or class.

You can download the Printable Pack from your receipt or from your account at Layers of Learning.

Above, you see the cover and two of the Printable Pack pages.

Extra Resources

This unit comes with extra weblinks and a YouTube video playlist on the Physics Resources page.