Students can explore pushing and pulling aspects of the locomotive and how the carriages are moved around, the effects of pulling and pushing levers in the signal box, as well as their own physical pulling and pushing processing when entering and leaving the train during their visit.
This resource is relevant to lower key stage 2 students who are undertaking work on ‘Forces’ in Year 3. It allows students who visit the Isle of Wight Steam Railway to engage with the scientific aspects of forces within this environment.
Students could cover the basics of forces and motion, particularly the pushing, pulling, speed and change of movement aspects, to allow them to engage with the resource at Isle of Wight Steam Railway most effectively.
Completion of Science Lower KS2 Physics / Forces at Isle of Wight Steam Railway resource linked to this document
Follow-up tasks could include: Class discussion of all the examples of forces they discovered at Isle of Wight Steam Railway; Completion of labelled diagrams, PowerPoint slides, or animations showing these examples; Finding other examples of where forces are evident in the everyday world
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how familiar things (trains) move and the basic forces involved. They will be able to understand that trains go faster, slow down and change direction. Most students will be able to understand that both pushes and pulls are examples of forces.