A tug-of-war exit slip for the end of a 3rd grade forces lesson. The red team pulls harder than the blue team, and students say which way the rope moves. A second question asks whether the forces are balanced or unbalanced, with evidence. Each slip ends with a five-face scale for how students feel about the day. Three copies print on each page, and the questions match NGSS 3-PS2-1.
3-PS2-1
“Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.”
Question 2 asks students to call the tug-of-war forces unbalanced and back it up with evidence, and question 1 links that to the rope's motion.
Students read the tug-of-war scenario and predict which way the rope will move when the red team pulls harder.
Students decide if the forces on the rope are balanced or unbalanced and give their evidence.
Five faces run from angry to very happy. Students circle one before they hand the slip in.
Last five minutes
Cut the page into three slips and hand one to each student at the door. Sort them into two piles by whether question 2 says unbalanced.
Before a real tug-of-war
Give the slip as a prediction before you go outside with a rope. Students check their answer to question 1 against what the rope actually does.
Planning tomorrow
Read the evidence lines closely. "The red team is stronger" is a start, but you want students to say the rope moves toward the red team.
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