Physics, 11–13 years — 20 topics · MyLeoNes™ Kuks
20 physics topics written for 11–13 years — not a older text simplified. In teaching order, each a deck of five cards: the idea, why it exists, a worked example, the common trap and where you meet it.
Physics · 11–13 years
Speed describes motion
Learn how distance and time together tell us how fast something moves, and how the same journey can include different speeds.
Forces change motion
See forces as pushes and pulls that can start, stop, speed up, slow down or turn an object.
Energy is transferred
Understand energy as something that can be stored and moved between objects, often changing form without simply disappearing.
A complete circuit
Find out why a lamp lights only when electricity has a complete route through a source, wires and the lamp.
Mass and weight are different
Mass tells how much matter an object has; weight is the pull of gravity on it.
Density explains floating
Density compares how much mass is packed into a given space, helping explain why some things float and others sink.
Light reflects from surfaces
Reflection is what happens when light bounces from a surface into our eyes, allowing us to see objects and images.
Sound comes from vibrations
Sound begins with a vibrating object and travels through a material to reach a listener.
Pressure depends on area
The same push can have very different effects when it is spread over a large area or concentrated on a small one.
Thermal energy moves from hot to cold
Temperature differences make thermal energy spread until objects and surroundings become closer in temperature.
Magnets have magnetic fields
A magnet can affect some objects without touching them because the space around it contains a magnetic field.
Light refracts when it changes material
Light can change direction when it enters glass, water or another material because its speed changes.
Balanced forces
When forces cancel, an object does not change its motion.
Simple machines trade force for distance
Levers, ramps and pulleys make tasks easier by changing how a force is used.
Series and parallel circuits
The arrangement of components changes how electricity travels through a circuit.
Newton’s third law: forces come in pairs
When one object pushes or pulls another, the second pushes or pulls back just as strongly. The two forces act on different objects, so they do not simply cancel.
Three ways thermal energy travels
Conduction, convection and radiation move thermal energy in different ways.
Gravity and orbits
Gravity is the attraction between masses. Near Earth it pulls objects down, while in space it can bend an object’s path into an orbit instead of making it travel in a straight line.
Voltage and resistance
Voltage provides the push that makes charge move, while resistance makes that movement harder. Together they help explain why different components in a circuit carry different currents.
Energy is conserved
Energy can move between objects and change form, but it is not created from nothing or destroyed. Counting all the forms before and after helps explain where energy has gone, even when some becomes thermal energy.
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