Forces

The Forces Sub-Collection is made up of pedagogical guidance and classroom materials for use with students. All materials were published by the Key Stage Three Strategy and the Secondary Strategy between 2002 and 2008.

Context
‘Forces’ was one of the original ‘key ideas’ within the Key Stage Three strategy. The Key Ideas are abstract in nature and strategy documentation stressed the importance of introducing all five key scientific ideas early in Key Stage Three. This is because students need to develop their understanding progressively so that they can recognise, use and then apply each of the ideas in different contexts. The five key scientific ideas that underpin the Key Stage Three programme of study are: cells, interdependence, particles, forces and energy.

Development
The Science Framework for Years Seven, Eight and Nine (2002) introduced the Key Ideas in 2002 and provided basic progression guidance for teaching forces. This was followed in 2003 by the Strengthening Teaching and Learning of Forces in Key Stage Three Science continuing professional development (CPD) unit, which supported participants with more detailed progression and pedagogical guidance as well as improving non-subject specialists’ understanding of the topic. The CPD unit also provided classroom materials comprising of a PowerPoint presentation and posters to use with students. In 2008, the Forces Study Guide was introduced to support progression and pedagogical guidance for teaching forces linked to the ‘progression maps’, the Revised Framework for Teaching Secondary Science (2008) and Assessing Pupils’ Progress in Science, (2009).

Please note that part of this collection of resources was first published in 2002. Ideas about teaching major scientific explanations, such as forces, are constantly changing.