Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 5

Friction: plan

I can plan an investigation to measure the effects of friction.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
Share function coming soon...
New
New
Year 5

Friction: plan

I can plan an investigation to measure the effects of friction.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils
Share function coming soon...

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Friction is the force between two surfaces that are moving, or trying to move, across each other.
  2. Friction always works in the opposite direction to the moving object.
  3. Only changing one variable allows us to know that no other variable has affected the results of the test.

Common misconception

Friction is always unhelpful.

Examples given of positive uses of friction for braking and turning.

Keywords

  • Surface - The surface is the top or outside layer of something.

  • Force - A force is a push or a pull. Forces can make objects move, change speed, change direction or change shape.

  • Friction - Friction is a type of force that acts between surfaces.

  • Variables - Variables are factors that can be changed in an investigation.

This lesson focuses on the working scientifically skill of planning a fair test investigation within the context of comparing the friction of different surfaces. Children will carry out and review their investigation in Lesson 2 of this unit.
Teacher tip

Equipment

See additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Equipment requiring safe usage.

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Do rough or smooth surfaces create greater friction forces?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: rough, rougher
Q2.
What can forces do to an object?
An image in a quiz
make it change melting point
Correct answer: make it change speed
make it change mass
Correct answer: make it change shape
Correct answer: make it change direction
Q3.
Which of these is not a surface?
potato skin
Correct answer: soil under a grass lawn
a wooden floor
the plastic outer layer of a football
Q4.
Which of these is not the name of a type of force?
Correct answer: grab
Correct answer: shove
push
pull
Correct answer: slide
Q5.
What type of meter do you measure forces with?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: force, newton, Newton meter, force meter, Newton
Q6.
Magnets can pull some objects towards them from a distance. What type of force is magnetism?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: non-contact, non-contact force, non contact, non contact force

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Friction is the force between two objects, or that are moving, or trying to move, across each other.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: surfaces, surface
Q2.
Which one of these statements does not describe a variable?
something you can change
Correct answer: something you can ask
something you can control
Q3.
If the enquiry question is, "Do different types of sports shoes have different friction?", which variable should you change?
the floor surface
the way you measure friction
Correct answer: the type of sports shoe
Q4.
In an investigation we should control...
Correct answer: all but 1 variable
1 variable
all variables
no variables
Q5.
Friction always works in the direction to the moving object.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: opposite, other
Q6.
Why should we only change one variable in a scientific investigation?
It is too complicated to change more than one variable.
It allows us to learn the effect of all of the variables.
Correct answer: It allows us to know that no other variable has affected the results.
Q5 UYSEG

Additional material

Download additional material
We're sorry, but preview is not currently available. Download to see additional material.