Fall Faster Gravity Worksheet

Gravity is the force that pulls everything on our planet down toward the ground, and understanding how it works is one of the first big ideas in third grade physical science. This Fall Faster Gravity Worksheet gives students a clear, hands-on way to explore why some objects drop straight down while others drift slowly as they fall. Children discover that gravity pulls on every object the same way, and that the real reason a feather takes longer to land is air resistance, the push of the air against a falling object. Once students can name that push, they can explain what they watch happen on the playground every day.

This 3rd grade force worksheet opens with a short fact panel written on grade level, so students have the science in front of them before they begin. Part A asks them to complete three sentences using words from the word bank. Part B shows three pairs of dropped objects and asks students to fill in a bubble to predict which object lands first. Part C asks for a written explanation, so students have to put the rule into their own words. Use it as a guided lesson page, as independent practice after a drop-and-observe experiment, or as a quick check at the end of a forces unit.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 7 activities: 3 word-bank sentences, 3 illustrated prediction items, and 1 written explanation

Three things make this Fall Faster Gravity Worksheet work well in the classroom. First, it separates the two ideas students usually blend together, that gravity pulls down while air pushes back, so the science stays clear. Second, every prediction item uses real, familiar objects, which lets students test their thinking with things they can actually drop at home or in class. Third, the written response at the end moves students past guessing and into explaining, which is exactly the kind of reasoning third grade science standards ask for. The included answer key makes it easy to check the work and to talk through misconceptions right away.

Teachers and parents can extend the lesson in just a few minutes. Drop a flat sheet of paper and a crumpled paper ball from the same height and let students watch what happens, then crumple the flat sheet and drop the pair again. Try the same test with a book and a single index card, or with a scarf and a tennis ball. Ask students to sort classroom objects into things that catch a lot of air and things that do not, and have them predict the results before testing. A short science journal entry, drawing the two objects and writing one sentence telling why one lands first, keeps the reasoning going all week.

Related Resources

• Gravity or Friction Force Worksheet
• Push or Pull Force Worksheet
• Labeling Force and Motion Worksheet
• Matter Song from Have Fun Teaching