What makes the pull of gravity stronger or weaker
Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
Ari wonders which objects pull on each other with gravity. Which answer is right?
- Every pair of objects with mass, even two balls
- Only Earth pulls on things
- Only very big objects pull, like planets and stars
- Objects pull only when they touch
An apple falls from a tree toward Earth. Does the apple pull on Earth too, by Bo's notes?
Pull-arrow diagram: a falling apple and Earth, with an arrow on each pointing toward the other. Pull-arrow diagram: a falling apple and Earth, with an arrow on each pointing toward the other. apple Earth - No; apples have no mass
- No; just Earth does the pulling
- Yes, and the apple pulls harder on Earth than Earth pulls
- Yes, with an equal pull; Earth just barely moves
Is there any gravity out where the Moon orbits, about 384,000 km from Earth, by Kira's reading?
Drawing, not to scale: Earth and the Moon with a pull arrow from the Moon toward Earth. Drawing, not to scale: Earth and the Moon with a pull arrow from the Moon toward Earth. not to scale Earth Moon - No; space has no gravity
- Yes, but it comes from the Moon alone
- No; gravity stops at the clouds
- Yes; Earth's gravity reaches it and holds it in orbit
Which pulls harder on Milo: Earth, from below, or a big boulder right beside Milo?
Drawing of a hiker-sized outline next to a boulder, standing on the ground, with arrows not drawn. Drawing of a hiker-sized outline next to a boulder, standing on the ground, with arrows not drawn. - They pull the same
- Earth, because it has far more mass
- Neither pulls on people
- The boulder, because it is closer
Read this first
Table (NASA Planetary Fact Sheet), with columns World and Gravity, m/s², surface gravity in m/s²
Earth 9.8; Moon 1.6; Mars 3.7; Jupiter 23.1.
Using the NASA gravity table, where would Noah's backpack weigh the least?
- On Mars
- On the Moon
- The same everywhere
- On Jupiter
Using the same table, where would Pia's backpack weigh the most?
- The same everywhere, since mass stays the same
- On Jupiter
- On the Moon
- On Earth, its home planet
Ren imagines taking a 3 kg ball to the Moon. What happens to the ball's mass there?
Drawing of the same ball on Earth and on the Moon, each labeled "mass: ?". Drawing of the same ball on Earth and on the Moon, each labeled "mass: ?". Earth Moon mass: ? mass: ? - It becomes zero
- It drops to about 0.5 kg
- It stays 3 kg
- It grows a little
Tala's diagram shows the same two balls twice: close together with long arrows, and far apart with short arrows. What do the arrows show?
Pull-arrow diagram: two equal balls close together with long arrows; the same balls far apart with short arrows. Pull-arrow diagram: two equal balls close together with long arrows; the same balls far apart with short arrows. - The pull is stronger when they are farther apart
- The arrows show how big the balls are
- Just one ball does the pulling
- The pull is stronger when they are closer
In Zee's diagram, a big ball and a small ball have pull arrows of equal length pointing at each other. Why are the arrows equal?
Pull-arrow diagram: a big ball and a small ball with equal-length arrows pointing toward each other. Pull-arrow diagram: a big ball and a small ball with equal-length arrows pointing toward each other. - The small ball pulls harder
- The arrows show distance, not pull
- They pull on each other with equal force
- The diagram is wrong; the big ball pulls harder
Esme doubles the mass of one ball and keeps the distance the same. What happens to the pull arrows?
Pull-arrow diagram: two balls with arrows toward each other; one ball is labeled "mass doubled". Pull-arrow diagram: two balls with arrows toward each other; one ball is labeled "mass doubled". mass doubled - Both arrows get longer, since the pull is stronger
- They both get shorter
- Nothing changes
- Just that ball's arrow grows