This 50–60 minute KS3/KS4 Physics lesson introduces forces in a clear, structured, and SEN-friendly way. Created for students in a secondary SEN school, but equally suitable for Year 7 mainstream science lessons, lower-attaining learners, intervention, or cover work.

Students build understanding through explicit teaching, scaffolded questioning, regular checking for understanding, mini-whiteboard retrieval, colour-coded visual support, and independent application tasks.

This lesson has been designed to make abstract physics vocabulary accessible through repetition, visual examples, structured retrieval, and clear chunked explanations.

Lesson Structure:
Starter – What could forces do? Students observe two interacting objects and discuss what forces might do, introducing the idea of pushes and pulls.

Explicit Teaching – What is a Force? Students learn:
A force is a push or pull
Forces can change: shape, speed, direction. Force is measured in Newtons (N)

Visual examples and scaffolded fill-in-the-gap activities reinforce understanding. Students identify whether everyday scenarios involve push, pull or both. Examples include: tug of war, turning on a light, falling objects,

Force Direction: Students learn how arrows are used to show the direction of forces. Quick checks help students identify whether forces act: left/right
up/down

Types of Forces: Students are introduced to: Friction, Air resistance
Weight (gravity), Magnetic force, Electrostatic force, Tension, Thrust
Upthrust,

Mini-whiteboard retrieval is built in throughout to check understanding.

Contact vs Non-Contact Forces: Students learn the difference between forces that require objects to touch and those that act at a distance.

Sorting and classification activities support vocabulary retention.

Independent Task - Students apply their understanding by: identifying contact and non-contact forces, matching force definitions, labelling forces acting on objects

Plenary – Students identify forces shown in real-world images to consolidate learning.

Includes:
Fully resourced PowerPoint
Worksheet activities included
Answer slides included
Colour-coded visual scaffolding to reduce cognitive load
SEN-friendly scaffolded learning
Mini-whiteboard checking for understanding throughout

Perfect for KS3 Physics, KS4 intervention, SEND classrooms, lower-attaining learners, mainstream Year 7 science, and cover lessons.