Year 3 Simple forces including magnets worksheet

“Planning a fair test” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 science unit “Simple forces including magnets”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 23 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 11 to 17 of the year, 12 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Planning a fair test

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · Science · about 23 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can plan a fair test by changing one thing and keeping the rest the same.

A Look back3 min

1.
Which word fits the gap in this life cycle? Circle it.
chrysalistadpoleseed
2.
40 14. Write < or > in the box.
3.
Read the chart. How far did the car roll on tiles, in cm?

B Watch me, then you4 min

Mia wants to know if a toy car rolls further on carpet or on wood. She rolls it down the same ramp each time.

A toy car at the top of a plank ramp, with carpet and a wooden board at the bottom

Watch me

Mia changes one thing: the floor surface.

She keeps the same car, ramp and starting point.

The car rolled 30 cm on carpet and 90 cm on wood.

Now you

1.
Ravi rolls a ball down the same ramp onto tiles, then onto sandpaper. Circle the one thing he changes.
the surfacethe ballthe ramp

C Your turn6 min

Each test changes one thing. Find the one thing that changes in each test.

A toy car on a plank ramp with three floor pieces at the bottom

1.
Ella rolls a car down a ramp onto carpet, then onto tiles. Nothing else changes. Circle the one thing she changes.
the floor surfacethe carthe height of the rampthe starting place
2.
Jay rolls a ball from a low start, then from a high start on the same slope. Circle the one thing he changes.
where the ball startsthe ballthe slopethe floor
3.
Sana tests a big wheel and a small wheel on the same car. Circle the one thing she changes.
the wheel sizethe car bodythe rampthe floor
4.
Ami is testing how far a toy car rolls on sand and on wood. Sort the cards into the table.
the carthe floor surfacethe rampthe start line
Change it Keep it the same

Say it out loud: What is the one thing that changes, and what stays the same in every test?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A football lying on short green grass, seen from the side

Kit says: “A football has no surface, because it is round and not flat.”

1.
Is Kit right? Write why in one sentence.

E Think deeper5 min

Ami wants to find out which floor makes a toy car roll furthest.

A toy car on a plank ramp with two floor squares at the bottom

1.
Write Ami's plan. Name the one thing she changes, and two things she keeps the same.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Planning a fair test · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. chrysalis If they circle tadpole, ask what the caterpillar becomes next. Point to the gap and say the stage that comes between the caterpillar and the butterfly.

2. > If they write <, they may be reading the ones first. Ask which number has more tens, then check the sign points to the smaller number.

3. 60 If the number is off, slide a finger from the top of the tiles bar across to the scale.

B

1. the surface If they circle the ball, ask: is the ball being swapped each time, or is the floor under it being swapped?

C

1. the floor surface If they circle the car, ask whether the car is swapped in each test. It is not, so the car stays the same.

2. where the ball starts

3. the wheel size

4. Change it: the floor surface · Keep it the same: the car, the ramp, the start line

D

1. Look for: Says Kit is wrong because a surface can be curved or round, such as the outside of a football. If they agree with Kit, ask them to run a finger over the outside of a ball. Ask what they are touching, and whether it counts as the outside layer.

E

1. Look for: Names the floor surface as the one thing changed, and at least two things kept the same, such as the car, the ramp height or the starting point.

Words to use

Say“What is the one thing you will change? What will you keep the same so the test is fair?”

Instead of“Tell them the answer is the floor, and skip asking why the other things stay the same.”

After the sheet

Roll a toy car down a book ramp onto a tea towel, then onto a baking tray. Keep the same start mark each time and ask which one thing you changed.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

11 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Surfaces and friction(with a plan)
Friction in Everyday Life(with a plan)
Pushes and pulls at work(with a plan)
Which Things Does a Magnet Pull?(with a plan)
Magnets pulling across a gap(with a plan)
Magnets and their poles(with a plan)
Strongest magnet test(with a plan)
Magnetic or not?(with a plan)
Attract or Repel?(with a plan)
Magnets Through Materials(with a plan)
Magnets Solve Problems(with a plan)

Every Year 3 science worksheet

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