Task cards illustrating examples of forces: skating, jumping on a pogo stick, drinking lemonade, and an apple falling from a tree, each asking students to identify the force involved.

You're presented with four scenarios, each asking you to identify which force — Push, Pull, Friction, or Gravity — is primarily involved.

Let’s go through each one step by step:

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13. Skating

> *Push, Pull, Friction, or Gravity?*

✔ Answer: Push and Friction

- Push: When you skate, you push backward against the ground with your skates to move forward. This is a classic example of Newton’s Third Law — for every action (pushing backward), there’s an equal and opposite reaction (moving forward).
- Friction: Friction between the wheels of the skates and the ground allows you to grip and propel yourself. Without friction, you’d just spin in place.
- *Gravity* holds you on the ground but isn’t the main force causing motion.
- *Pull* isn’t directly involved here.

👉 Best answer: Push (primary force for motion), with Friction enabling it.

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14. Jumping on a pogo stick

> *Push, Pull, Friction, or Gravity?*

✔ Answer: Push and Gravity

- Push: You push down on the pogo stick to compress its spring. The spring then pushes back up (reaction force) to launch you into the air.
- Gravity: Pulls you back down after you jump up. It’s essential for the “bounce” cycle — without gravity, you wouldn’t come back down.
- *Friction* plays a small role (e.g., air resistance or grip on the ground), but not primary.
- *Pull* isn’t really involved — you’re not pulling anything.

👉 Best answer: Push and Gravity — both are essential to the action.

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15. Drinking lemonade out of a straw

> *Push, Pull, Friction, or Gravity?*

✔ Answer: Pull (technically, pressure difference, but “Pull” is the best fit here)

- When you suck on a straw, you reduce the air pressure inside the straw. The higher atmospheric pressure *outside* the straw then *pushes* the liquid up into your mouth.
- However, in elementary science contexts, this is often simplified as “pulling” the liquid up.
- So while scientifically it’s a pressure difference (external push), the *perceived* action is pulling.
- *Gravity* pulls the liquid down, working *against* the motion.
- *Friction* is negligible here.

👉 Best answer: Pull (as per common educational simplification).

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16. An apple falling from a tree

> *Push, Pull, Friction, or Gravity?*

✔ Answer: Gravity

- Gravity is the force that pulls the apple downward toward the Earth.
- There’s no intentional push or pull from a person.
- Air resistance (a form of friction) acts *against* the fall, but it’s not the main force causing the motion.
- Gravity is the only force *causing* the apple to fall.

👉 Best answer: Gravity

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## ✔ Final Answers:

- 13. Skating → Push (and Friction enables it)
- 14. Jumping on a pogo stick → Push and Gravity
- 15. Drinking lemonade out of a straw → Pull
- 16. An apple falling from a tree → Gravity

These answers align with basic physics concepts taught at the elementary level, focusing on the most direct and observable forces involved.