Speed, distance and pressure
Two formulas cover a surprising amount of physics: speed = distance ÷ time, and pressure = force ÷ area.
Part of your national curriculum
- Physics: motion and forces: Understand the speed of moving objects and the representation of journeys on distance-time graphs
- Physics: motion and forces: Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Calculate speed from distance and time
Key learning points
- • Speed
- • Pressure
This lesson at a glance
- 25 minutes
- 10 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 10
Watch first
Speed, distance and pressure
An English teaching video on this topic from MrE Science. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Calculate speed from distance and time
Explore the idea
Part 2 of 10
Learn
Speed
Keep units consistent: metres with seconds, kilometres with hours. A distance–time graph's gradient is the speed; a flat line means stationary.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 10
Learn
Pressure
The same force over a smaller area gives greater pressure — which is why snowshoes work and drawing pins do too.
Quick check
Part 4 of 10
Quick check
A cheetah covers 120 m in 4 s. Its speed is…
Quick check
Part 5 of 10
Quick check
A flat line on a distance–time graph means…
Quick check
Part 6 of 10
Quick check
Reducing area with the same force…
Challenge round
Part 7 of 10
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 8 of 10
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
A ____–time graph's gradient is the speed; a flat line means stationary.
The same force over a smaller area gives greater ____ — which is why snowshoes work and drawing pins do too.
Mastery quiz
Part 9 of 10
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Speed, distance and pressure
3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. A cheetah covers 120 m in 4 s. Its speed is…
2. A flat line on a distance–time graph means…
3. Reducing area with the same force…
Lesson round-up
Part 10 of 10
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Why the school greenhouse failed
A science club grew tomato plants in the school greenhouse. In June the plants grew well: leaves were dark green and the fruit set quickly. In July the club went away for two weeks and left the greenhouse door shut. When they came back, the leaves were curled and pale and most of the fruit had dropped.
The club had a data logger inside. It showed the temperature reached 46 °C on several afternoons and the soil moisture fell close to zero. The club knew photosynthesis needs light, water and carbon dioxide, and that enzymes in a plant work best in a narrow range of temperature. Above that range the enzymes stop working properly.
The club repeated the summer with the door propped open and a water bottle drip on each pot. Temperature peaked at 31 °C and the plants survived.
Written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Name the variable the club changed the second time, and one variable they kept the same.
- Explain, using the words photosynthesis and enzymes, why the plants were damaged in July.
- Write a conclusion for the club's report, saying how far the evidence supports it.
Method and results
WritingWrite the aim, what you changed, what you measured and what you kept the same, then record your results in a table.
1 page + results table
Conclusion
WritingExplain what your results show and why, using the scientific words from the lesson. Say how you know you can trust them.
6–8 sentences
Labelled diagram
DiagramDraw the apparatus or the process in pencil, label it fully, and photograph it.
1 labelled diagram
Reading and notes
ReadingRead the lesson text again and write the key ideas in your own words.
Half a page of notes
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 10 · Watch & discover
How this is going
- Not looked at yet
Understand the speed of moving objects and the representation of journeys on distance-time graphs
- Not looked at yet
Understand pressure in fluids and atmospheric pressure, and pressure on surfaces