5-PS2-1: Earth's gravity pulls things down
What students must show for performance expectation 5-PS2-1, with a lesson sequence built on live data, the misconceptions to expect, and assessment questions with answers.
Last updated . Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
What students must show
Our summary- Students support an argument, with evidence, that the gravitational force Earth exerts on objects is directed down.
- Students understand that "down" means toward the center of a round Earth, so down points a different way in every place.
"Down" as the direction toward Earth's center.
Any mathematics of the gravitational force.
Our summary, in our own words. Read the official wording.
The three dimensions
Grade 5Engaging in argument from evidence
Support an argument with evidence, data or a model.
PS2.B Types of interactions
Earth's gravity pulls objects near it toward the planet's center.
Cause and effect
Cause-and-effect relationships are identified and used to explain change.
Live tools for this standard
3 toolsLesson sequence
Engage to evaluate- Engage10 min
Drop a ball, a feather and a sheet of paper. Why did they all go down? Which way is down for a child in Australia? Draw a round Earth with stick people at the top, bottom and sides, each dropping a ball.
- Explore25 min
Groups hang a plumb line (a weight on a string) in different places around the room and outside: it always hangs straight toward the ground. Then spin the Moon on the Worlds page: the Moon pulls things down too, just less.
- Explain15 min
Build the argument together: the claim (Earth pulls everything toward its center), the evidence (dropped objects, plumb lines, people on the far side of the world do not fall off) and the reasoning. Show the re-entry tracker: even satellites are pulled back down.
- Evaluate10 min
Exit ticket: draw Earth with four people around it, each holding a ball, and draw an arrow for where each ball falls.
Common misconceptions
3 to watch forDown is the same direction everywhere.
Down points to Earth's center, so it is a different direction in every place.
The four-people drawing.
There is no gravity in space, so astronauts float.
At the station's height gravity is still close to 90% as strong as on the ground. Astronauts float because they and the station are falling around Earth together.
Use the ISS tracker: the station is always falling but moving sideways fast enough to keep missing Earth.
Heavy things fall faster.
Without air, everything falls at the same rate; air slows light, spread-out things like feathers.
Drop a book with a flat sheet of paper lying on top of it: they fall together.
Assessment questions
Answers folded away5-PS2-1: Earth's gravity pulls things down · orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/5-ps2-1
- A child in Australia drops a ball. Which way does it fall?
- Up, into space
- Toward Earth's center
- Sideways
- Which is the best evidence that Earth pulls objects down?
- A dropped ball always falls to the ground
- Birds can fly
- Balloons float
- Why do people on the other side of Earth not fall off?
- The Moon's gravity is weaker. What happens to a ball dropped on the Moon?
- Claim, evidence, reasoning: does gravity work in space? Use the re-entry tracker.
Answer key
- Toward Earth's center.
- A dropped ball always falls to the ground.
- Gravity pulls them toward Earth's center too, so the ground is down for them.
- It still falls toward the Moon's center, but more slowly.
- Yes: satellites are pulled back down, and Earth's gravity holds the Moon in orbit.
Worksheet
US LetterNote: written for Grades 6 to 10: use its first part with Grade 5.
The same idea in state standards
Texas, Florida, Georgia- Texas: 6.7A
- Florida: SC.K.E.5.1, SC.1.E.5.2, SC.5.P.13.1
- Georgia: S4P3.b
Related, not equivalent: each state words and groups its standards differently.
More standards pages
Grade 5About these codes
These are our suggestions for where each tool fits. Always preview a page before using it with a class: some tools show ads, these school pages do not.
Codes are performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards*, for example 5-ESS1-2. Each summary is our own wording; follow the link on a standard page for the official text.
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Pick a style, then copy it or download it for your reference manager.Orbital Radar. (2026, November 6). 5-PS2-1: Earth's gravity pulls things down. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/5-ps2-1
“5-PS2-1: Earth's gravity pulls things down.” Orbital Radar, 6 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/5-ps2-1. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.
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Orbital Radar. “5-PS2-1: Earth's gravity pulls things down.” Last modified November 6, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/5-ps2-1.
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* Next Generation Science Standards is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.