What happens when things collide
Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“What happens when things collide means asking questions and predicting energy changes when objects collide. We will practise once together, then check a fresh example.”
Bring to the table
- Two soft balls or rolled socks
- Paper for predictions: slower, faster, direction change, sound
Extra for the adult
Worked example. A fast sock hitting a still sock can make the still one move; you may hear a soft sound.
Optional challenge. For What happens when things collide, compare soft vs slightly harder push and describe the difference.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: question; prediction; result; support used. This session samples collision energy talk, not mastery of physics formulas.
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Teaching approaches
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2 approaches
What happens when things collide means asking questions and predicting energy changes when objects collide. We will practise once together, then check a fresh example.
Spend about 12 minutes predicting and testing gentle collisions, then checking a fresh prediction.
Predict and observe a gentle collision, keeping predictions separate from results.
Predict and observe a gentle collision, keeping predictions separate from results.
Family records and proof options
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Practice this concept
Start practiceWhat happens when things collide practice
Predict energy changes when objects collide.
Free · no login · no ads · Practice answers and completion are not saved. Parent observation remains the lesson record.
Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
PhET Interactive Simulations · Practice link — not the full lesson
Forces and Motion: Basics
Before you open · source notes
Forces and Motion: Basics supports hands-on exploration for What happens when things collide. Not every lab worksheet.
Free interactive page, no sign-in required for the tested path.
Before you openAsk the learner what they changed in the sim or page and what they observed.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public PhET Interactive Simulations page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.
PhET Interactive Simulations. “Forces and Motion: Basics.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.
Unknown — link only
Check understanding
- Predict the outcome of a collision based on the speeds and sizes of the objects
- Explain that energy transfers from one object to another during a collision
- Describe observable changes: one object speeds up, the other slows down, sound is produced
“If your child rolls two balls towards each other, can they predict what will happen when they hit and explain that energy transfers between them?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Energy
- Age range
- Ages 9–10
Standards