5th grade science · TEKS 5.7A
Interactive 5th grade science labs with printables that match
A guided digital station your students can open right now, and a printable teacher pack written for that exact lab: recording sheets, a station task card, an exit ticket with answer key, and a teacher guide.
The forces lab is free to open. No student account, no trial, nothing to install.
- Guided start to finish
- Predict, test, record, explain.
- Built for Texas science
- Reviewed against the TEKS it teaches.
- Ready for station day
- One class period, one cart of Chromebooks.
Try this scene first
The chicken or the egg: a gravity and air resistance race
A 2 kg chicken hops off the roost as a 60 g egg rolls off, and students predict which lands first.
- The chicken lands first
- They land together
- The egg lands first
With her wings tucked, they land together, because gravity speeds up both the same and the air barely slows either one. Then students press Flap while she falls. Each flap pushes air down, the air pushes her up, and the egg lands first.
In the free lab, choose Falling objects, then The chicken or the egg?
One routine for every science station: predict, test, record, explain
Students learn the four stages once. After that the science changes and the method does not, so a station day runs without re-teaching the format.
Predict
The question opens over the station, and the test runs only after a student answers it. There is no way to skip the prediction.
A free force and motion lab with six scenes
Pushes, Pulls, and Fields is an interactive 5th grade science station for TEKS 5.7A. Students see how equal and unequal forces change motion. All six scenes record into one trial table, so students can compare a push on ideal ice with a magnet that pulls without touching. It takes about 25 minutes and runs on school Chromebooks.
- Push and pullA hand starts the motion
- Falling objectsGravity pulls things down
- Friction surfacesThe ground pushes back
- Air resistance dropsAir pushes up
- Magnet pull (non-contact)Force without touching
- Magnetic field trackFollow a magnetic field
What it goes after
Each scene is built around an idea fifth graders often get wrong, so the wrong idea produces a result the student has to explain.
- A moving object needs a push to keep moving.
- In Push and pull the hand lets go, and the wagon keeps rolling on ideal ice. Friction surfaces then show what actually slows a box down and stops it.
- Balanced forces mean nothing is pushing.
- On the magnetic field track, a 2 N hand push on carpet does not move the cart, because friction pushes back just as hard. The forces balance.
- Heavier objects always fall faster.
- A 1 kg ball and a 2 kg ball land together. Two sheets of the same paper land at 2.0 s flat and 0.7 s crumpled, so shape changes air resistance, not weight.
- A force has to touch an object to move it.
- A magnet pulls a nail across a 1 cm gap, and the spring scale reads 4 N. Nothing touches the nail.
Use the lab for free. Add the printable teacher pack when you need paper.
You should not have to find a simulation in one place and build the worksheet somewhere else. Each pack is written for the lab it goes with, so the prediction prompts, trial table, vocabulary, and explanation task stay connected.
| Pushes, Pulls, and Fields | Free lab | TPT teacher pack |
|---|---|---|
| Six guided force scenes | Included | Not included |
| A prediction before every test | Included | Not included |
| A trial table that logs every test | Included | Not included |
| Claim, evidence, and reasoning response | Included | Not included |
| Print or save a filled recording sheet | Included | Not included |
| Student recording sheets, on-level and supported | Not included | Included |
| One-page station task card | Not included | Included |
| Teacher guide with setup and timing | Not included | Included |
| Exit ticket with answer key | Not included | Included |
| Common misconceptions and teacher notes | Not included | Included |
| Instructions for opening the free lab | Not included | Included |
The teacher pack is on our TPT store. The lab stays free whether you buy it or not.
Get the pack on TPTBuilt from a real classroom need
Predict & Prove began when Dusty Mumphrey built a simple science-station resource for his wife Michelle’s fifth-grade classroom. Michelle needed guided digital investigations when physical supplies were limited and wanted more instructional structure than open-ended simulations provided. Her students began using the stations regularly, and her classroom requests continued shaping what was built next.
Michelle Mumphrey, M.Ed.
Founding teacher and curriculum lead
A practicing Texas elementary educator with graduate training in special education, she helps design and review science learning experiences for instructional clarity, differentiation, accessibility, and classroom feasibility.
Michelle is married to Predict & Prove founder Dusty Mumphrey. Predict & Prove is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by her employer.
A science station day, start to finish
- First 3 minRead the task card aloud and set the routine: predict, test, record, explain.
- Next 17 minStudents predict, test, and record trials across the scenes.
- Next 7 minStudents write a claim, evidence, and reasoning from their own trial table.
- Last 3 minPrint or save the filled recording sheet, then compare two trials as a class.
What happens with student work
- Students do not need an account to open the lab.
- Student work stays on the student's device and clears when the tab closes.
- No advertising, analytics, or student tracking.
- Built for shared school Chromebooks.
- Keyboard access, reduced motion support, and readable student text are product requirements.
- Student-facing science content is reviewed by a classroom teacher before release.
Questions teachers ask
Is the forces lab really free?
Yes. Pushes, Pulls, and Fields opens in a browser with no trial, no card, and no student account. The printable teacher pack is the paid part, sold through TPT.
Do students need accounts?
No. Students open a link. Nothing they type is sent to Predict & Prove, and their work stays on their device until they close the tab, so they print or save it before they leave.
Will it run on our Chromebooks?
Yes. It is built for shared school Chromebooks. Nothing installs, and it opens from a link you post in Google Classroom.
What standard does it cover?
TEKS 5.7A: how equal and unequal forces acting on an object cause patterns of motion. Along the way students test pushes and pulls, gravity, friction, air resistance, and magnetism.
What do I print?
The recording sheet and the task card are the pages students use. The teacher guide, exit ticket, and answer key are for you.
Can we skip printing?
Yes. The trial table and the written explanation live in the lab, and Print or save as PDF turns them into a filled recording sheet whenever you want paper.
More stations for the fifth-grade year are being used and revised in a real classroom before they are published. Each one will be released with its matching teacher pack. No dates are set yet.
Use it for your next station day
Open the guided forces lab now, or add the matching TPT teacher pack when you want the complete printable lesson.