Teacher guide · Think Lab · Harder · about 30 min

🧲 Forces and Materials Lab

Pupils practise problem solving and curiosity through "Forces and Materials Lab": Push, pull, friction — and picking the right material.

Lesson guide

1. Hook · 5 min
Show the 🧲 mission title and read the opening: "A ball rolls slower on carpet than on wood. Why?". Take three quick guesses.
2. Model · 5 min
Think aloud through the first step together. Use Cog the Owl's line as your prompt: "Good thinking. Show me the why."
3. Do · 10 min
Pairs work through the 4 steps on screen or on the printed sheet. Circulate and ask "why?"
4. Discuss · 10 min
Use two or three of the discussion questions. Ask pairs to share different answers, not just correct ones.
5. Reflect · 5 min
Exit ticket: one sentence on how they used problem solving today.

What was the hardest choice in "Forces and Materials Lab", and why?
A ball rolls slower on carpet than on wood. Why — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Design a fair test to find the grippiest shoe. What do you keep the same — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Where could you use problem solving outside school this week?
If you did this again, what would you change?

Support: Read prompts aloud, pair with a confident partner, and accept spoken or drawn answers for writing steps.

Stretch: Set the Challenge tier (1 extra steps) and ask pupils to justify every answer in writing.

National Curriculum: Science: working scientifically plus the year-group topic
National Curriculum: Maths: reasoning mathematically and problem solving
National Curriculum: Computing: logical reasoning and algorithms
PSHE: Living in the wider world: making decisions and evaluating choices

Pupil sheet

Name: ____________________ Date: __________

1. A ball rolls slower on carpet than on wood. Why?
☐ More friction on carpet
☐ Gravity is stronger on carpet
☐ The ball gets heavier
2. Match the material to the job it's best at.
Rubber → ________________
Glass → ________________
Wool → ________________
Steel → ________________
3. Investigate the ramp experiment.
Clue — Test 1: Steeper ramp — the car travels further.
Clue — Test 2: Sandpaper on the ramp — the car barely moves.
Clue — Test 3: Same ramp twice gives almost the same result.
4. Design a fair test to find the grippiest shoe. What do you keep the same?