Reading a Force Diagram

Reading a Force Diagram Worksheet (Grade 6 Science, TEKS 6.7B)

Before students can calculate net force, they need to read a force diagram. This one-page reading and activity sheet uses simple doodles of a sled and a cart. It explains that a force is a push or a pull with a magnitude and a direction, measured in newtons, and shows how arrows in a force diagram show both.

What's Inside

• A Big Question box: "How do we read a force diagram?"
• A short reading on force, magnitude, direction, newtons, and horizontal and vertical forces, with a labeled sled diagram
• Activity 1: Students read a four-arrow diagram of a cart, circle each direction, and write each magnitude
• Activity 2: Students write H or V for six everyday forces, such as gravity pulling an apple down
• A visual answer key with answers marked in red

How Teachers Use It

Use it to start a forces unit, before a net force lesson, or as practice for TEKS 6.7B. The sheet takes about 10 minutes, needs no prior knowledge, and prints clearly in black and white.

This worksheet is part of the Reading in Science series for grade 6. It supports TEKS 6.7B: calculate the net force on an object in a horizontal or vertical direction using diagrams and determine if the forces are balanced or unbalanced. It is one of three connected TEKS 6.7B sheets that build four skills in order: read a force diagram, calculate net force, and identify balanced and unbalanced forces.

Why It Works

Each sheet opens with a Big Question that frames the lesson, teaches the key terms in plain words, and then asks students to use only what the page taught. Diagrams use whole numbers in newtons, and the visual answer key lets teachers check work fast.