Move It!: Motion, Forces, and You, written by Adrienne Mason, illustrated by Claudia Davila, is a great introduction to motion and force for students. The book is filled with concise descriptions of force in the form of pushing, pulling, throwing, kicking, lifting, and stopping. Force is described in situations that students are familiar with:
“To throw a ball to someone far away, you need to use a lot of force (a big push). To throw to someone closer, you need less force. The more force you use to move something, the greater the distance it will move” (p.12).
Move It! also discusses gravity and friction. This book is very student-friendly as it uses pictures of children engaged in games and playground activities to depict the use of force. In addition to the descriptions of force, there are fun activities throughout the book, as well as a section of additional information and activities for parents and teachers at the end.
Curriculum Connections
Move It! Motion, Forces, and You is a wonderful resource in the teaching of motion and force. The book nicely correlates with the Virginia Science Standard of Learning 1.2. According to this SOL, students are expected to grasp the concept of moving objects exhibiting different kinds of motion. This includes pushing and pulling and its effect on objects, as well as the observation of motion in toys and playground activities.
Additional Resources
- Football Activity: This is an easy activity to get students talking about force and motion using rubber balls and straws. The summary section of this link also provides good information for teachers to share with students.
- Washer Lesson Plan: This is a lesson plan dealing with force using scrap paper and metal washers. There is also a very good homework worksheet at the end of the lesson.
- Push/Pull Worksheets: This link will take you to three easy worksheets dealing with pushing and pulling forces.
Book: Move It!: Motion, Forces, and You
Author: Adrienne Mason
Illustrator: Claudia Davila
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: August 2005
Pages: 32
Grade Range: K-3
ISBN-10: 1553377583