Five items fit on the student page of this 2-page 5th grade gravity check, and page 2 is the answer key. Students draw arrows from the balls dropped by two people at the top and bottom of Earth, choose what changes for an astronaut on the moon, pick what keeps the planets in orbit and explain why a feather falls more slowly than a rock in air. The last item asks which way gravity pulls on Earth.
5-PS2-1
“Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.”
Items 1 and 5 ask for arrows toward the center of Earth and for the direction gravity pulls.
“Tell what changes and what stays the same for an object on the moon, and say what holds the planets in orbit.”
Items 2 and 3 are multiple choice, and item 4 uses air resistance to explain the feather and the rock.
A small Earth with a person at the top and one at the bottom, each with a ball. Students draw an arrow from each ball to show the pull.
One asks what changes when an astronaut goes to the moon (mass, weight, both or neither). The other asks what keeps the planets in orbit around the sun.
Side-by-side questions with four writing lines each, on the feather and the rock in air and on which way gravity pulls on Earth.
Both arrows pointing toward the center of Earth, B for the moon, C for the sun's gravity and short answers on air resistance and the direction of gravity.
Exit ticket
Use it in the last ten minutes of the gravity unit. The five items take most students about eight minutes.
Check the bottom arrow
Look at the bottom person first. Students who draw the arrow down the page, not toward the center, still think of down as the bottom of the sheet.
Before and after
Give the same sheet on the first and last day of the unit and compare answers to item 4. Air resistance is usually missing the first time.
Get started today
