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Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

Pushes and pulls change shape: playdough tests

Working Scientifically only (NSW 2017); Forces can change the way objects move (NSW 2024); Science understanding, Physical sciences (ACARA v9)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

A push or a pull can change an object's shape as well as its motion, and a bigger force makes a bigger change.

What you need

  • A 50 g ball of playdough per learner, rolled to the same size using a 4 cm ring as a gauge
  • A ruler; a stack of identical books (each weighed once on the class scale, for example 400 g)
  • A 30 cm strip of elastic and a 30 cm strip of paper
  • Recording sheet: action, force word (push or pull), what changed, measurement

How to do it

  1. Press the ball with one finger. Record push and what changed. Measure the dent's width.
  2. Put one book on a fresh ball and measure the ball's height. Predict the height with two books, then add a second book and measure again; then a third.
  3. Pull a ball from both ends until it breaks. Record pull and the length just before it broke.
  4. Pull the elastic and the paper strip the same way. Which stretches and springs back, which stretches and tears.
  5. Roll a ball along the table with a push and say whether that push changed the shape or the motion.

What you should see

Each added book squashes the ball flatter: the height falls with every book and does not rise back when the books come off, so the change stays. A finger push makes a dent whose width grows with a harder push. The pulled ball stretches, thins in the middle and then breaks, and its length just before breaking is the class measurement; the elastic stretches and springs back; the paper hardly stretches and then tears. The learner knows it worked when the three height measurements fall in order: one book, two books, three books.

What changes

What you change
number of books (size of the push)
What you measure
height of the squashed ball (mm)
What you keep the same
  • same 50 g ball
  • same books
  • books placed gently

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • Only living things can push and pull.
  • A pull cannot change shape, only a push.

Safety card

Low riskLearners carry it out

Hazards

  • Playdough contains wheat flour and salt and is not for eating

Controls

  • Allergy register checked for wheat; hands washed; dough kept in tubs

Note

No chemicals or heat. Record the activity on the school's risk assessment (Primary School RiskAssess, Ecosolve Australia, riskassess.com.au).

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. Current syllabus; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare, 2027 start teaching the 2024 syllabus. Code read from the official syllabus document on 2026-09-22.ST1-1WS-S
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.ST1-SCI-01ST1-PQU-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9S1U03AC9S1I01AC9S1I02AC9S1I03AC9S1I06

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9S1U03
  2. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  3. curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2024/content/stage-1
  4. primaryconnections.org.au/teaching-sequences/year-1/forces-fun
  5. primaryconnections.org.au/v84-sequences/bend-it-stretch-it

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