NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________

SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

SCIENCE
Speed, velocity and acceleration
It is not necessary to carry out all the activities contained in this unit.
Please see Teachers’ Notes for explanations, additional activities, and tips and
suggestions.

Theme Speed, velocity and acceleration

All students: Keywords 3
Vocabulary File 4-6

Activities that are suitable for Activating Students’ Existing 7

Learning Support, Language Knowledge
Support and the Mainstream Completing Sentences 13
Subject Class include:
Multiple Choice 14
Writing 15-16
Wordsearch 20

Learning support and Language Working with words 8

support: Picture Sentences 9
Activities suitable for students Odd One Out 10
receiving Learning or Language
Support include: Science Keywords 11
Unscramble the letters 12
Alphaboxes 19
Play Snap 21-23

Language support: Grammar points 17-18

Additional activities for Language
Support:

Levels for Language Support A1 – B1 The language level of each activity is

indicated in an information box.

Learning focus Using Science textbooks and accessing curriculum

content and learning activities.

Acknowledgement The English Language Support Programme

acknowledges the permission of Gill and Macmillan
to reproduce excerpts from Extracts from Science
Revision for Junior Cert. by Shea Mullally
Note: The categorisation of activities is indicative only and should not prevent teachers from
using any activities that are considered suitable for a particular group of students.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Making the best use of these units

Learning Record
A copy of the Learning Record should be distributed to each learning support and language
support student.
Students should:
1. Write the subject and topic on the record.
2. Tick off/date the different statements as they complete activities.
3. Keep the record in their files along with the work produced for this unit.
4. Use this material to support mainstream subject learning.

Introduction of a topic or activity should ensure that students understand what they are
doing and why. Many students will have some difficulty in understanding both the language
in the activity and the instructions/purpose for carrying out the activity.

You can create your personal teaching resource by printing these units in full and filing
them by subject in a large ring binder.

Encourage students to:

o Bring the relevant subject textbooks to learning/language support class. It

does not matter if they have different textbooks as the activities in these units
refer to vocabulary and other items that will be found in all subject textbooks.
These units are based on curriculum materials.
o Take some responsibility for their own learning programmes by:

Developing a personal dictionary for different subjects, topics, and

other categories of language, on an on-going basis. This prompt is a
reminder.

Recording what they have learnt on the Learning Record,

which should be distributed at the start of each unit.

Keeping their own files with good examples of the work

produced for different subjects and topics. This file will be an
invaluable learning resource in supporting mainstream learning.

Indicates that answers may be found at the end of the unit.

Don’t forget that many of the activities in these units are also suitable as homework tasks or
for self-study.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Keywords
The list of keywords for this unit is as follows:

Nouns
acceleration to measure
athlete to slow down
average to speed up
deceleration to start
direction to travel
distance
graph Adjectives
metres (shortened to m) constant
minutes fast
object fastest
rate remaining
rate of change similar
second slow
speed slowest
table speeding
time stable
velocity stationary
travelling
Verbs
to accelerate Other key words
to change in a given time
to divide per second
to finish the same
to increase the time taken

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Vocabulary file 1
Word Meaning Note or example*

velocity

speed

acceleration

deceleration

time

minute

second

* You may wish to write a sentence or phrase, make a note of the page in your textbook
where this word appears or, if English is not your first language, provide a translation
into your language.

Get your teacher to check this, then file it in your folder so you can use
it in the future.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Vocabulary file 2

Word Meaning Note or example

graph

metres

distance

accelerate

change

increase

fastest

Get your teacher to check this, then file it in your folder so you can use

it in the future.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Vocabulary file 3

Word Meaning Note or example

to increase

to speed up

stationary

stable

per second

the same

the time
taken

Get your teacher to check this, then file it in your folder so you can use

it in the future.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: All

Type of activity: Whole class
Suggested time: 10 minutes

Activating students’ existing knowledge

Use a spidergram to activate students’ ideas and knowledge on the key points in this
chapter. See Teachers’ Notes for suggestions.

Possible key term for the spidergram:

speed time movement

Invite newcomer students to provide key words in their own languages.

Encourage dictionary use.

Encourage all students to organise their vocabulary into relevant categories
(e.g. meaning, nouns, keywords, verbs etc.).

All students should record vocabulary and terms from the

spidergram in their personal dictionaries.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A1
Type of activity: Pairs or individual
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Working with words - Tick the correct answer

1)
a) train
b) car
c) plane
d) bike

2)
a) tripod
b) athlete
c) animal
d) soldier

Circle the words in the box that are about travelling or can be used to travel

shirt plane
telephone
rocket

fast bus slow

hair train
dinner

dog car

bicycle book boat

helicopter

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A1
Type of activity: Pairs or individual
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Picture Sentences - Tick the correct answer

1.
a) This is a train.
b) This is an experiment.
c) This is a car.

2.
a) This is a train.
b) This is an athlete.
c) This is a car.
Have you ticked
3. this activity on your
a) This is a clock. Learning Record?

b) This is a man.
c) This is a book.

4.
a) This is a clock.
b) This is a graph.
c) This is a book.

Put these words in the correct order to form sentences.

plane car faster than a travels a

____________________________________________________
Don’t
provides graph a information forget!

_____________________________________________________ You must

have a
fifty the ran athlete metres capital
letter and
_____________________________________________________ full stop in
each
sentence.

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 NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A1 / A2
Type of activity: Pairs or individual
Suggested time: 20 minutes

Odd One Out

Circle the word which does not fit with the other words in each line.
Example: chair desk book train

1. window speed time distance

2. metres car velocity chair

3. object graph travels cloud Have you ticked

this activity on your
Learning Record?

4. bike waves sound seconds

Find these words in your textbook. Then put them in short sentences
in your own words. Use a dictionary if necessary.

metres _________________________________________________

distance _________________________________________________

travels _________________________________________________

time _________________________________________________

graph _________________________________________________

waves _________________________________________________

Check that these keywords are in your personal

dictionary.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A2 / B1
Type of activity: Individual
Suggested time: 40 minutes

Science keywords

Fill in the missing letters of the keywords listed below.

On the line next to the keywords, write down whether this word is a noun, an
adjective or a verb.

1. d_st_n_e _________________

2. g_a_h _________________

3. a_hl_t_ _________________
Have you ticked
this activity on your
4. v_l_ci_y _________________ Learning Record?

Write as many words as possible relating to travelling and speed.

You have 3 minutes.

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A1 / A2
Type of activity: Pairs or individual
Suggested time: 20 minutes

Unscramble the letters

1. The rate of change of distance with time PSEDE

Look at each word
Answer __________________ as you write the
answer.

2. Speed in a given direction VLEOTCIY Is your spelling

correct?
Answer __________________
Can you
pronounce the
3. Velocity is measured in MTREES word?

Answer __________________ Do you know what

the word means?

4. A sports person is also called an AHTELET Have you got this

word in your
personal
Answer __________________ dictionary?

Solve the secret code

English= A C D E F I N M O S T U
Code= B X Y F G Q R O L E A W
example: EAWYFRA = STUDENT

YQEABRXF _________________________

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A2 / B1
Type of activity: Pairs or individual
Suggested time: 40 minutes

Completing text
Fill in the blanks in these sentences. Use words from the Word Box below.

SPEED
_____ is the rate of change of distance with time.

The world's fastest athletes can run 100 m in less than 10 seconds. The average

speed of the athlete is found by dividing the ________ travelled by the time

taken.

VELOCITY
__________is speed in a given direction. Like speed, velocity is measured

in_________ per second (m/s or m 5-1). It tells you the speed that something

is travelling, but it also tells you the _________ in which it is travelling. For

example, an athlete is running with a velocity of 17 m 5-1 due south.

Word Box

direction velocity
metres distance speed

Fill in the missing words to show different descriptions of speed:

slow
faster
quickest

Write a sentence to show how you use each of these words:

slow _______________________________________________

faster ______________________________________________

quickest ____________________________________________

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: A2 / B1
Type of activity: Individual
Suggested time: 30
minutes

Multiple choice

(Read the text below and choose the best answers)

Like speed, velocity is measured in metres per second (m/s or m 5-1). It tells you

the speed that something is travelling, but it also tells you the direction in which

it is travelling. For example, an athlete is running with a velocity of 17 m 5-1 due

south. When an object is stationary distance travelled does not change with

time. When an object is moving at constant velocity the speed remains the same.
1. What is velocity measured in?
a) metres b) graphs
c) not sure d) volume

2. What does velocity tell you?

a) news b) nothing
c) weather d) the speed and direction something is travelling

3. What happens to the distance of a stationary object?

a). changes b) does not change with time
c). speeds up d) moves

4. Does the speed remain the same when an object is moving?

Have you ticked
a) Yes b) No this activity on your
Learning Record?

Find these words in your textbook.

Write your own explanations for the words. Then write a note or example to
help you remember the word. Use your dictionary if necessary.

Word Page in Explanation Note or example

textbook
stationary

constant

direction

due (south)

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: B1
Type of activity: Pairs / small groups Writing
Suggested time: 40 minutes

Planning text

Use this chart to plan a short text on the topic, ‘Measuring speed’.

Introduction Important words for this topic.

First paragraph

Second paragraph

What is the difference

between acceleration
and deceleration?
Look carefully at the
spelling.
Concluding points

Have you ticked

this activity on your
Learning Record?

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Use your plan and your textbook to write about:

‘Measuring speed’.
___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

When your teacher has checked this, file it in your folder so you can use it in the future.

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: All

Type of activity: Individual
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Grammar Points
In this Unit, we came across the following adjectives:
• fastest
• slow
• stationary

Write the meanings of these words in English:

fastest
slow
stationary

Adjective Hunt
Circle the 10 adjectives in these columns. Score 4 points for each correct
answer. Who will score the highest? Perhaps you will. Good luck!

table
dangerous
velocity
travelling
speed
slow
distance
car
clear Have you ticked
this activity on your
remaining
Learning Record?
graph
open
chemical
speeding
time
object
similar
car
hot
slowest
athlete

Score:______________ points

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Language Level: All

Type of activity: Individual
Suggested time: 30 minutes

Grammar points

Adverbs describe how things are done. In this unit we have been studying speed
and velocity.
Look at these sentences. The adverbs are underlined.

Write each adverb in your own language on the line beside the sentence.

In my language
Light travels quickly.

Traffic moves slowly in the city.

You must read your textbook

carefully.

It is important to write clearly.

To get hot water you must boil it
rapidly.

Now write your own sentences using these words:

quickly ___________________________________________

slowly ___________________________________________

carefully ___________________________________________

clearly ___________________________________________

rapidly ___________________________________________

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Alphaboxes
Using your textbook, find one word beginning with each of the letters of the
alphabet. Write the word in the relevant box. You could also write the word in
your own language.

a b c

Do you
d e f understand
all these
words?

g h i
Get your
teacher to
check this,
j k l
then file it in
your folder
so you can
m n o use it in the
future.

p q r

s t u

v w xyz

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Word search
Find the words in the box below.

ACCELERATE DIRECTION MINUTES TIME

ACCELERATION DISTANCE OBJECT TRAVEL
ATHLETE FASTEST SECOND VELOCITY
CHANGE GRAPH SPEED WORLD
CONSTANT INCREASE STABLE
DECELERATION METRES TABLE

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Play Snap
Make Snap cards with 2 sets of the same keywords. See Notes for teachers for
ideas about how to use the cards.


velocity velocity

speed speed

time time

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

distance distance

accelerate accelerate

graph graph

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

seconds seconds

metres metres

athlete athlete

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Answer key
Circle the words in the box that are about travelling or can be used to travel

plane

rocket

fast bus slow

train

car

bicycle boat

helicopter

Scrambled sentences =
A plane travels faster than a car.
A graph provides information.
The athlete ran fifty metres.

Odd One Out = window, chair, cloud, bike

Letter Scramble = speed

velocity
metres
athlete

Secret Code = distance

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration

Completing Text =

SPEED

Speed is the rate of change of distance with time.

The world's fastest athletes can run 100 m in less than 10 seconds. The average speed

of the athlete is found by dividing the distance travelled by the time taken.

VELOCITY

Velocity is speed in a given direction. Like speed, velocity is measured in metres per

second (m/s or m 5-1). It tells you the speed that something is travelling, but it also

tells you the direction in which it is travelling. For example, an athlete is running with a

velocity of 17 m 5-1 due south.

(Science Revision for Junior Certificate, page 5)

Multiple Choice = a, d, b, b

Grammar Points = clear, chemical, similar, hot, dangerous, slow, remaining, open,
speeding, slowest

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NAME: _____________________________ DATE:________________________
SCIENCE: Speed, velocity and acceleration
Word Search:

D Z X
O B J E C T MU U
H R MI
U T E S S M R G
S N L M N E M F B H K T I G O C C
A H C S P E E D G U X N WP Q T A L E
L N E S Y N J S R R L T T K Z Y L J B A O
J H R U G R A P H J J P O K J V F L F I P
T K Z V F S B N S E C O
D P K A Q B F V H L
X G S T V Y J X E J L F B U V X T T I ME P W
H Q ME I P B D S D V E L O C I T Y U H P P L J J
X M D V R A C C E L E R A T I O
H Y D P A P A Z
F A S T E S T R A V E L B J S H U J N B U K S E H
U O E Y F D Q V C H A
G E WQ D K J U G D K E E WQ
I T K O M Q O E J B D F B L Y MME T R E S T A B L E
G L Q T Q MK D H D G C C I
C R E A S E K U N T S X
S Z Q I WC O
S T A
T S J D B B R M V I T D S
A T H L E T E Y O X Z V R E B P R G H Y C Z J C R
G O A S S E M L Z G P MF I L S A G I T A B L E V
D E Z D I R E C T I O
F E WC X K P F L L P
G WO R L D E C E L E R A T I O
X O B I L Z
P X WZ B K I Q H S T D I S T A
C E Q V
C A C C E L E R A T E S K Z K L F Z R C K
D U F V T B U B WWA I A J V E F B X
F N Y A Q O H R K J L I L X B S K
K G MB H F P V WQ T E G
F R R U A L WG R
MI X

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