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6th grade · Science · Unit 3 of 9

Fields & Forces at a Distance

Gravity, magnetism and electric forces.

What your child practices

Practices forces that act without touching: what affects electric and magnetic force strength, why gravity is always attractive and depends on mass, and how fields store energy.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 6.P2U1.4 · forces that act on objects at a distance

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Some forces act at a distance: gravity, magnetism and electric force.
  2. Gravity is stronger between objects that are more massive and closer. It keeps planets in orbit.
  3. Rubbing a balloon gives it a static charge, so it sticks to a wall.
  4. Magnets attract or repel without touching.

Example: When is gravity between two objects stronger? More mass means more pull. Being closer also means more pull. Answer: when they are more massive and closer

Fields & Forces at a Distance in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 3 of 9 in 6th grade Science, after Atoms & Elements and before Kinetic & Potential Energy.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    An electromagnet is made by…

    • running current through a coil of wire
    • freezing a magnet
    • heating a rock
    • rubbing a balloon

  2. Question 2

    Like electric charges…

    • disappear
    • attract
    • repel
    • become neutral always

  3. Question 3

    Iron filings around a bar magnet show…

    • heat
    • magnetic field lines
    • electric current
    • gravity

  4. Question 4

    A field is a region where…

    • nothing happens
    • only light exists
    • an object feels a force
    • it's always hot

  5. Question 5

    Adding more coils to an electromagnet makes it…

    • lighter
    • weaker
    • colder
    • stronger

  6. Question 6

    Why does the moon cause tides but a mountain near the sea does not noticeably?

    • Mountains are magnetic
    • The moon is closer than the mountain
    • The moon's mass is huge
    • Mountains repel water

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