Pushes and pulls: Year 1 Science topic guide

What students learn in AC9S1U03

This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of Pushes and pulls. The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.

• Start with the main idea: describe pushes and pulls in terms of strength and direction and predict the effect of these forces on objects’ motion and shape.
• Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
• observing and manipulating everyday objects such as playground equipment, toys, windows or doors and identifying the forces used to move these objects investigating how the design of age-appropriate sporting equipment such as paddles, plastic bats and racquets help to produce stronger pushes and pulls
• Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.

Curriculum coverage and elaborations

The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.

• Content description: describe pushes and pulls in terms of strength and direction and predict the effect of these forces on objects’ motion and shape
• E1: observing and manipulating everyday objects such as playground equipment, toys, windows or doors and identifying the forces used to move these objects
• E2: investigating how the design of age-appropriate sporting equipment such as paddles, plastic bats and racquets help to produce stronger pushes and pulls
• E3: recognising that pushing or pulling on an object can start or stop its motion or change its direction of travel
• E4: exploring ways the shape of playdough can be changed when pushed or pulled
• E5: designing playground equipment, toys or games and representing push and pull forces involved using models, digital drawings or role-play
• E6: investigating the push and pull movements of traditional First Nations Australians children’s instructive toys (teaching context)
• E7: exploring how traditional Asian toys and games such as a kendama, Daruma Otoshi or shuttlecock are played using a push or pull

How to use this unit

Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.

Common mistakes to watch for

• Describing what is seen without connecting it to a question, pattern or prediction.
• Using everyday words only and missing simple scientific vocabulary.
• Changing more than one thing in an investigation, which makes the comparison unfair.

International curriculum mapping

This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.

Related Year 1 Science topics

• AC9S1U01: Needs of plants and animals
• AC9S1U02: Daily and seasonal changes
• AC9S1H01: Science in daily life
• AC9S1I01: Questions, patterns and predictions
• AC9S1I02: Safe investigation procedures
• AC9S1I03: Making and recording observations
• AC9S1I04: Sorting data and representing patterns
• AC9S1I05: Comparing observations and predictions

Official curriculum references

• Australian Curriculum Version 9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F-10
• NSW Curriculum
• Common Core State Standards
• Next Generation Science Standards
• England National Curriculum
• New Zealand Curriculum
• NCERT textbooks