Keep this light. Hold up or point to one everyday object if it helps (the classroom door, a ball of modelling dough, an elastic band) but do not set out the full hunt yet. Take three or four quick guesses. Do not name the word force until the next step unless a pupil offers it.

Key question: Are opening a door, flattening dough and stretching a band somehow the same idea?

Hierarchy to keep clear for pupils

Every force we name today is first a push or a pull. Squash and stretch are not separate force types; they name a shape-change result. A squash is a push that makes something shorter or flatter. A stretch is a pull that makes something longer. When a pupil flattens modelling dough, the correct force word is push, and what happened is that the shape changed (it was squashed). Do not mark squash or stretch as if they replace push or pull.

Three quick live models (keep all three; about 3–4 minutes total)

Do these as short think-alouds, not three full inquiry cycles. Have the door, a book and a small ball of dough ready before you start.

1. Start (door): Open the classroom door slowly. I used a push — my hand moved the door away from me. The door started moving.
2. Stop (book): Gently roll a book a short way and stop it with a flat hand. I used a push against the moving book. The book stopped. (A gentle catch of a soft ball works the same way if preferred.)
3. Change shape (dough): Squash the dough once. I used a push, and the shape changed — that squash is still a push force.

Then ask the class question on the board: which force do you use most often in school?

Misconception to head off: children often think a force is only a big shove, or that something must be moving for a force to count. A gentle push, a stretch that holds still, and a squash that changes shape are all forces. Also, gravity is a pull, but keep today's hunt to forces the children can feel themselves applying with their hands or body. If pupils argue whether dough is "push or squash", revoice: Push is the force; squash is what happened to the shape.

Pronunciation: force is everyday speech; no special cue needed.

Predictions stay oral. Take a few pairs aloud so the class hears a range. Capture two or three ideas on the board under Push / Pull — not as a full materials list, just as curiosity markers. If a pair also names a shape change, jot it beside the push or pull it belongs to, not as a third column of force types.

Remind them: predictions are the start of the science, not a test to get right. A force they did not expect is a good find. On the hunt they will always decide push or pull first, then what happened (started, stopped, or changed shape).

Before you leave the carpet: quickly name the safe rules you will use on the hunt (see safety). Point out the two shared dough and elastic-band stations you have ready, and the everyday objects already in the room (door, drawer, chair, book).

Before the lesson (station layout)

Run the hunt as a rotation around shared stops (or walk the whole class stop to stop if space is tight). Stock the room once for the class, not a full kit per group:

• Movement stops (use objects already in the room): classroom door (push or pull), a drawer or cupboard (pull), a chair to push in gently, a book to push across a table and stop with a flat hand.
• Shape-change stations (two shared tables for the whole class): one small ball of modelling dough and two wide elastic bands on each table. Pupils rotate to these stations; they do not each need their own dough.
• Optional outdoors (class kit): school gate or door, a swing or low bar to push, one soft ball to roll with a push and gently stop or catch. Stay together as a class or in supervised groups.

How to run the hunt

Rotate groups through the stops, or walk the whole class from stop to stop if space is tight. At each stop, ask the two-step questions aloud: Push or pull? What happened — start, stop, or change shape? Fold watchers in with the same questions rather than giving them a separate desk task.

Memory anchors (do these so step 5 is not a blank-page test):

• After every one or two stops, freeze for about 20 seconds: pairs say aloud place, push or pull, and what happened.
• You revoice one clear find per stop for the whole class and jot three short class finds on the board (e.g. "door — push — started moving") as shared hooks before anyone returns to seats.

Look-fors: pupils naming push or pull first; then saying whether something started, stopped or changed shape; noticing squash as a push that changes shape and stretch as a pull that changes shape. If a group only says "I moved it", prompt: Did you push it away or pull it towards you? If they only say "squash", prompt: Was that a push or a pull that squashed it?

Differentiation: less confident pupils can point and use the words push or pull with a partner's help. Confident groups can hunt for a force that both starts movement and changes shape, or find two different pulls, or find one clear stop.

Safety while moving: push chairs and doors gently; pull elastic bands low and away from faces; keep the run clear of feet; outdoors stay inside the agreed boundary.

This is the paper recording beat on the Investigation Journal page. Do not invent extra columns or a separate homemade sheet. Tell pupils what to record (place, push or pull, what happened); the page layout is generated for them. Point back to the three class finds on the board if anyone blanks.

Circulate and prompt: Push or pull first — which word fits? What happened — did it start moving, stop, or change shape? Accept drawings with labels for pupils who write slowly; the science is in naming the force and the result. If a pupil writes only "squash", ask them to add that it was a push that squashed the dough.

Success look-fors: at least three different examples; each named as push or pull; a clear "what happened" note for each (start, stop, or shape change). Squash and stretch count as shape-change results, not as replacements for push or pull. If someone only lists objects, ask them to add the force word and the result.