Things Move

A Science AZ Physical Series

Word Count: 406

Things
Move

Written by Rhonda Lucas Donald

Visit www.sciencea-z.com

www.sciencea-z.com

Key elements Used in This Book

Things
Move

The Big Idea: The world around us is in motion, full of living and
nonliving things that move in ways that can be predicted and described.
Pushing, pulling, friction, and gravity are all forces that affect objects.
These forces can make things move, change their speed, change their
direction, and stop them. Much of daily life depends on motion. We
have to judge the amount of force to use when causing things to move,
stop, or change direction. Knowing how and why things move allows us
to work, play, get around, and complete everyday tasks.
Key words: bounce, down, fall, fast, force, gravity, heavy, kick, light, motion,
move, pull, push, rest, roll, slow, speed, stop, swing, throw, turn, up
Key comprehension skill: Cause and effect
Other suitable comprehension skills: Compare and contrast; classify information;
main idea and details; identify facts; elements of a genre
Key reading strategy: Summarize
Other suitable reading strategies: Connect to prior knowledge; ask and answer
questions; visualize; retell
Photo Credits:
Front cover (top): iStockphoto.com/Iia Dukhnovska; front cover (middle), page 4 (bottom): Kian
Khoon Tan/123RF; front cover (bottom): iStockphoto.com/Edward Shaw; back cover: iStockphoto.
com/Dave Logan; title page: iStockphoto.com/Dmitriy Shironosov; page 3: iStockphoto.com/Kristian
Sekulic; page 4 (top left): iStockphoto.com/Jason Lugo; page 4 (top right): iStockphoto.com/
Vasiliki Varvaki; page 5 (top): iStockphoto.com/Marko Roeper; page 5 (bottom): iStockphoto.com/
Steve Stone; page 6 (top): iStockphoto.com/Leah-Anne Thompson; page 6 (bottom): Brad Calkins/
Dreamstime; page 7 (top): iStockphoto.com/Bonnie Jacobs; page 7 (bottom): iStockphoto.com/
Le Do; page 8 (left): iStockphoto.com/Catherine Lane; page 8 (right): Susan Stevenson/123RF;
page 9 (top): iStockphoto.com/Daniel Loiselle; page 9 (bottom): iStockphoto.com/Nina Shannon;
page 10: iStockphoto.com/Jim Parkin; page 11 (top left): iStockphoto.com/James Brey; page 11
(top right): iStockphoto.com/Kate Leigh; page 11 (left center): iStockphoto.com/Melissa Carroll;
page 11 (bottom): iStockphoto.com/Brian McEntire; page 12: iStockphoto.com/Acky Yeung; page
13 (top): iStockphoto.com/Glenda Powers; page 13 (bottom): Duard Van Der Westhuizen/123RF;
page 14 (top): Mark Herreid/123RF; page 15 (top): iStockphoto.com/Rob Friedman; page 15
(bottom): iStockphoto.com/Lawrence Sawyer; page 16 (top right): iStockphoto.com/Eliza Snow
Thompson; page 16 (middle): iStockphoto.com/Camilla Wisbauer; page 16 (bottom): Pzaxe/
Dreamstime.com
Illustration Credits:
page 14 (bottom): Jupiterimages Corp.

Written by Rhonda Lucas Donald

www.sciencea-z.com

Things Move
Learning AZ
Written by Rhonda Lucas Donald
All rights reserved.
www.sciencea-z.com

All around you, things are

moving. Cars roll, birds fly,
balls bounce, and kids run.
Some things move on their
own. Other things have
to be moved.
Some things speed up.
Other things slow down.
Some move in a line.
Others move in circles.

Lets learn what makes things

move. Lets also learn why
things move in different ways.
3

Look at the two pictures.

How are the bikes in the
two pictures different?

Things move because

of something called
a force. A push
is a force. A pull
is a force, too. When you
push a scooter or pull a sled,
you use force to move things.

The bikes in the first picture

are at rest. The bike the boy
is riding is in motion. What
makes some bikes move?

A little force can move

something that is very light.
But it takes more force to push
or pull things that are heavy.

Things cant move on their

own. They stay at rest until
a force moves them.
A force can make things move
in different ways. A force can
even stop moving things.
Push or kick a ball
with one of your
feet. It moves away. Step
on the ball and it stops.

Pushing an empty swing is easy!

Pushing a person on a swing
takes more force.
7

There are many ways to

describe how things move.
A car can move up or down
a hill. It can turn from side to
side. It can even go in a circle.

Speed is how fast or slow

something moves. Use more
force to make things move
faster. Use less force to make
things move slower.
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10

How are the things

in these pictures moving?

If a force gets something

moving, that thing will keep
moving. It takes a force
to stop it. When you ride
in a moving car, you are
moving, too. If the car stops,
you will keep moving until
something stops you.

Seat belts
and car seats
protect you
when cars stop.
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12

There is a force around you

that you cannot see. This force
is called gravity. Gravity moves
things by pulling them toward
the ground.

What happens if you drop

a toy? It falls to the ground
because
of gravity.
Throw a ball
into the air.
Gravity pulls
it back to
the ground.

Without gravity,
everything on
Earth would float
off into space!

Gravity makes slides so much fun!

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Now you know that forces

make things move in many
ways. Knowing how and
why things move
helps you have fun!
Imagine you are about to throw
a ball. Can you predict what
it will do?
The ball will go where you
throw it. It wont turn around
or go in circles. It will stop
when someone catches it
or when it hits the ground.

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