Today, we began our new science unit on forces and magnets.  We started by exploring how objects move and learned that a force is essentially a push or a pull acting upon an object. We discovered that while some forces require objects to touch (known as contact forces, such as kicking a football), others can act at a distance (known as non-contact forces, such as the pull of gravity or a magnet). By experimenting with magnets and clips, we observed non-contact forces in action, watching objects rise without being touched. We also explored contact forces by stretching elastic bands and pushing balls. We realised that forces are responsible for starting motion, stopping it, and even changing the shape of an object.