New

Year 11

Foundation

Speed-time graphs

I can calculate time intervals and acceleration of sections of a speed/time graph.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

New

Year 11

Foundation

Speed-time graphs

I can calculate time intervals and acceleration of sections of a speed/time graph.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

View new resources

Lesson slides

Download lesson slides

Skip lesson slides

Lesson details

Key learning points

In a speed-time graph, a horizontal line means the speed did not change during that time.
A slanted line means the speed is changing.
You find this by considering the change in speed with respect to the change in time.
This is how you find the gradient of the line, which is also the acceleration.
A negative gradient means there is deceleration.

Keywords

Acceleration - Acceleration is the rate of change of speed with respect to time.
Deceleration - Deceleration is the rate at which the speed of an object is decreasing.

Common misconception

Pupils may think a horizontal line on a speed-time means the object is stationary.

The $y$ -axis is plotting speed so a horizontal line means the speed has not changed in that time. But this can be at any speed. Pupils need to double check axes to know what sort of graph they are using.

To help you plan your year 11 maths lesson on: Speed-time graphs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Using acceleration will be a new concept for most. You may wish to give pupils whiteboard or paper axes with a scale of 1:1 and get them to show and explore different acceleration rates before doing task B.

Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Skip lesson video

Worksheet

Download worksheet

Skip worksheet

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What do we plot on the $x$ -axis of a distance-time graph?

distance

displacement

speed

Correct answer: time

Q2.
The gradient of this line is .

Correct Answer: 4

Q3.
The gradient of this line is .

Correct Answer: 30

Q4.
The gradient of this line is .

Correct Answer: -6

Q5.
This distance-time graph shows an object moving at constant speed. The object is travelling at km/h.

Correct Answer: 80

Q6.
Which of these is equivalent to $\frac{a}{b}$ ?

Correct answer:

a b^{- 1}

a^{- 1} b

(a b)^{- 1}

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Deceleration is the rate at which the of an object is decreasing.

Correct Answer: speed

Q2.
Which of these could be units of acceleration?

m/s

^{- 1}

Correct answer: ms

^{- 2}

\frac{m^{2}}{s}

Correct answer:

\frac{m}{s^{2}}

Q3.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What was the top speed of the object in this time?

Correct Answer: 15 m/s, 15 metres per second

Q4.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What happened between 3 and 5 seconds?

The object stopped.

The object slowed down.

Correct answer: The object travelled at a constant speed.

The object moved backwards.

Q5.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 5 and 10 seconds the object was accelerating at a rate of m/s $^{2}$ ?

Correct Answer: 2

Q6.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 10 and 15 seconds the object was decelerating at a rate of m/s $^{2}$ ?

Correct Answer: 3

Speed-time graphs

Speed-time graphs

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Lesson slides

Lesson details

Key learning points

Keywords

Common misconception

How to plan a lesson using our resources

Licence

Lesson video

Worksheet

Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.What do we plot on the x-axis of a distance-time graph?

Q2.The gradient of this line is .

Q3.The gradient of this line is .

Q4.The gradient of this line is .

Q5.This distance-time graph shows an object moving at constant speed. The object is travelling at km/h.

Q6.Which of these is equivalent to ab?

Assessment exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.Deceleration is the rate at which the of an object is decreasing.

Q2.Which of these could be units of acceleration?

Q3.The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What was the top speed of the object in this time?

Q4.The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What happened between 3 and 5 seconds?

Q5.The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 5 and 10 seconds the object was accelerating at a rate of m/s2 ?

Q6.The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 10 and 15 seconds the object was decelerating at a rate of m/s2 ?

Q1.
What do we plot on the $x$ -axis of a distance-time graph?

Q2.
The gradient of this line is .

Q3.
The gradient of this line is .

Q4.
The gradient of this line is .

Q5.
This distance-time graph shows an object moving at constant speed. The object is travelling at km/h.

Q6.
Which of these is equivalent to $\frac{a}{b}$ ?

Q1.
Deceleration is the rate at which the of an object is decreasing.

Q2.
Which of these could be units of acceleration?

Q3.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What was the top speed of the object in this time?

Q4.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. What happened between 3 and 5 seconds?

Q5.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 5 and 10 seconds the object was accelerating at a rate of m/s $^{2}$ ?

Q6.
The speed-time graph shows the first 20 seconds of an object's journey. Between 10 and 15 seconds the object was decelerating at a rate of m/s $^{2}$ ?