Maria holds a pencil above her desk and lets go. The pencil lands on the classroom floor. In which direction did Earth's gravitational force pull the pencil?

A student in Australia drops a ball and it lands at her feet. A student in Canada drops a ball and it lands at his feet. What claim do these two observations best support?

On an unlabeled model of Earth, a class marks a person standing in South Africa. They want to draw an arrow showing the gravitational force on that person. Where should the arrow point?

A ball dropped in Argentina and a ball dropped in Norway are both pulled toward Earth's center.

A class writes this claim: Earth's gravity pulls objects toward Earth's center. Which observation is the best evidence for that claim?

A student says that people who live near the South Pole would fall off Earth. What is wrong with that idea?

On a still day, an apple's stem breaks and the apple falls straight down to the ground below the branch. Which claim does this observation best support?

Ben throws a basketball straight up. The ball rises, stops, and then comes back down to him. What best explains why the ball comes back down?

Two students stand on opposite sides of Earth, one in Ecuador and one in Indonesia. How does Earth's gravitational force act on them?

For a person standing anywhere on Earth's surface, what does the word down mean?

A small metal weight hangs still on a string in a quiet room. What does the direction the string points tell a scientist?

A climber at the top of a tall mountain drops a glove, and it falls to the snow at her feet. A hiker at the bottom of the mountain drops a glove, and it also falls at his feet. Which claim do these two observations best support?

A mountain stream runs from high ground down through a rocky valley. Which force acts on the water, and in what direction does it act?

A worker cleaning windows near the top of a tall building lets go of a sponge by accident. A student claims that Earth pulls the sponge toward Earth's center the whole way down. Which observation of the falling sponge best supports that claim?

A ball rolls off the edge of a table. As soon as it leaves the edge, its path curves downward until it reaches the floor. Which claim about Earth's pull does this observation best support?

A class claims that the pull on the sand in a sand timer is directed toward Earth's center. Which observation of the timer best supports that claim?

Two students watch a stone dropped from a bridge into the river. One says Earth pulls it toward Earth's center the whole way down. The other says the pull begins only when the stone is near the water. Which observation best decides between them?

On a still day a student drops a rock from a window and watches it move downward faster and faster until it lands. Which claim about Earth's gravitational force does this observation best support?

A student claims that Earth's gravity pulls objects toward the center only for places north of the equator. Which fact best shows this claim is incorrect?

A student claims that objects fall because down is the same direction everywhere in space. Which evidence best shows that this claim is wrong?