Force Factory
Category: Sport Skills · 2-page printable PDF · Ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 · Free for ConnectedPE members
Force Factory hands students a movement-science lab: twelve mini-experiments for ages 10–16 that uncover the four forces behind every skill — Stability (Wide vs Narrow, Edge Balance), Levers (Long-Arm Throw, Full Backswing), Projectiles (45° Launch, Release High, Backspin Flight) and Momentum (Step & Throw, Follow Through, Kinetic Chain).
Every experiment runs the same scientific protocol — predict, test both versions, measure, explain — so students don't hear that a wider base is more stable or that ~45° flies furthest, they prove it with beanbags and a tape measure. The Lab Journal deepens it: three-trial data averaging (a deliberate maths link), an angle-of-release trace, three explain-it prompts tied to Newton's laws, and a design-your-own experiment that isolates a single variable, capped with a Biomechanist award.
Two pages, everyday equipment, indoors or out, solo or pairs. Pairs with The Reaction Time Lab for more sports science, and Velocity & Acceleration Task for senior biomechanics.
What students learn
Investigate the biomechanical principles behind movement — base of support and centre of gravity, lever length, projectile release angle and height, and momentum and force transfer — by predicting, testing, measuring and explaining the results of practical experiments.
Topics: biomechanics, movement science, forces, levers, projectiles, momentum, stability, STEM
Related PE resources
- Volleyball Battle Stations — Ages 7-8
- Move Masters — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Smash Stars! — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Scarf Stars — Ages F-2, 3-4
- Boing! — Ages F-2, 3-4