Forces and Magnets Knowledge Organiser

Year 3 ScienceForces and Magnets1 page

About this worksheet

A one-page Year 3 science knowledge organiser for the forces and magnets unit. Four big ideas cover pushes and pulls, contact forces such as pushing a door, magnetic force acting at a distance, and rough surfaces creating more friction. A vocabulary table defines seven terms, from friction to magnetic material. Bar magnet diagrams show opposite poles attracting and like poles repelling. Beside them, a steel paperclip and an iron nail sit apart from a wooden spoon, a plastic ruler and a copper coin. Five key questions with short answers end the page. It matches the England National Curriculum for Year 3.

Curriculum objectives covered

Forces and magnets

โ€œCompare how things move on different surfacesโ€

Big idea 4 and key question 2, where a toy car travels a shorter distance on a rough surface.

Forces and magnets

โ€œNotice that some forces need contact between 2 objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distanceโ€

Big ideas 2 and 3, and key question 3, which contrasts friction with magnetic force.

Forces and magnets

โ€œCompare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materialsโ€

The Magnetic and Non-magnetic panel, the definition of magnetic material and key question 5.

Forces and magnets

โ€œPredict whether 2 magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facingโ€

The two bar magnet diagrams and key question 4 about two north poles.

What's inside this worksheet

Big Ideas

Four statements with pictures: a child kicking a ball, a door being pushed, a magnet pulling paperclips and a toy car moving from a smooth to a rough surface.

Key Vocabulary

Seven terms with definitions: force, friction, magnetic force, poles, attract, repel and magnetic material (iron, steel, nickel or cobalt).

How Magnets Behave

Two pairs of bar magnets show S facing N pulling together and N facing N pushing apart, next to two magnetic and three non-magnetic objects.

Key questions

Five questions with answers, such as what happens when two north poles meet and why gold, silver, copper and aluminium do not count as magnetic.

How teachers use it

Toy car test

Keep it on tables while pupils roll toy cars over carpet and lino. They can check their results against big idea 4 as they measure.

Magnet table

Set out a steel paperclip, an iron nail, a copper coin and a plastic ruler. Pupils test each one and compare their results with the panel.

End of unit quiz

Cover the answer column and use the five key questions as a quick quiz. Question 5 catches pupils who still think every metal sticks to a magnet.

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