Gravity Reading Comprehension Worksheets for Year 4

Sometimes, there’s just not enough time in the school day to cover all those curriculum outcomes across multiple learning areas. Clever teachers know how to work smarter by integrating multiple learning areas into one learning activity. A great example of this is by teaching science content through reading comprehension passages!

This gravity worksheet is a great example of such integration. It enables students to build up their scientific knowledge of the force of gravity and the effect it has on our everyday lives while simultaneously fine-tuning their reading comprehension skills. By engaging with this gravity reading comprehension activity, students will be given a thorough introduction to gravity by exploring the following topics:

• What is gravity?
• Mass vs. weight
• How gravity was discovered
• Gravity on Earth
• Gravity in the solar system
• Real-life gravity

After reading the two-page gravity reading comprehension, students are then required to answer 10 comprehension questions based on the content in the text. Questions include multiple-choice, true/false and free-response questions.

The resource download includes:

• 2 x differentiated reading passages
• 2 x differentiated question pages
• Answers for both sets of questions

Two differentiated versions of this resource are included in the download. To make it easier for teachers to identify the two differentiated versions (but not so obvious to the students!), a star system has been used. The harder version of the worksheet, the more stars in the top right corner of the worksheet.

The harder version contains more complex vocabulary and slightly different comprehension questions. We encourage teachers to choose the version of the friction worksheet that best meets the needs of your class, or of specific students within your class.

This gravity worksheet can be downloaded as a black-and-white PDF or an editable Google Slides file. Read on to explore how you can use this resource in multiple ways in your science lessons on gravity!

Multiple Uses for This Gravity Worksheet

Looking for some “out-of-the-box” ideas when it comes to using this gravity worksheet in your Year 4 classroom? Here are a few suggestions from one of our experienced teachers:

1. Make It a Cloze Passage – Provide students with mini whiteboards and markers. Instead of giving the students a copy of the reading passage, read it to the students aloud. Every so often, stop and have your students predict what the next word of the passage will be. Once your students have written their prediction on their whiteboard, have them flip it around to show the rest of the class. This makes for a great discussion about which words would work in the passage, which would not, and why!
2. Turn It Into Trivia – After having the students read the gravity reading comprehension either individually or as a class, place them into small groups. Use the accompanying comprehension questions as trivia questions that the students need to work on collaboratively in their groups. They’ll love the friendly competition!
3. Student-Written Quiz Questions – After reading the gravity worksheet, have your students write their own quiz questions based on the text. These could be handed to the teacher and used as exit tickets at the end of the lesson.

Download to Access This Gravity Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Use the dropdown menu on the Download button above to access either the easy-print PDF  or the Google Slides version of this resource. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides template before accessing it.)

As this file contains multiple student versions and answer pages, we recommend printing one copy of the entire file, then selecting and removing the pages you wish to photocopy for the students.

Please consider printing this resource double-sided for sustainability purposes.

This resource was created by Kaylyn Chupp, a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Teacher-Created Activities for Exploring Gravity

Looking for more activities to explore the force of gravity with your students? Click on the resources below to add to your collection!

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All About Gravity Mini-Book

Get students exploring gravity facts for kids with this printable mini-book perfect for Year 4 science lessons.

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The Force of Gravity Teaching Slides

Teach your students facts about gravity with this comprehensive and age-appropriate teaching presentation for primary school science lessons.

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Gravity Poster

Teach students facts about gravity using this gravity poster perfect for Year 4 science lessons.