Grade 6 Energy and Forces word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Grade 6 Energy and Forces word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this energy and forces puzzle set for my 6th graders during our physical science unit. The kids knew about pushes and pulls but had no idea what words like kinetic, potential, or friction meant when we started learning about different types of energy and forces. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like energy, force, motion, kinetic, potential, friction, gravity, magnetism, electric, chemical, thermal, sound, light, and spring . I also included a few like "newton" and "joule" because they kept coming up in our class discussions about measuring force and energy . Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the vocabulary finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or independent practice. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "kinetic" (it's a tricky one) or whether potential and kinetic energy are the same thing (they're not—they always have opinions about it) . The crossword I use for partners or as a review, and I usually have a simple diagram or example nearby for the kids who need the visual support to see the difference between a ball at the top of a hill (potential) and a ball rolling down (kinetic) . I added a couple simple ball, ramp, and spring drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 6th through 7th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers give one example of potential energy and one example of kinetic energy on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.