On Monday, students reacquainted themselves with magnets, and discussed
- how magnets stick to some metals but not others
- learned that the special ingredient is IRON
- how some magnets are stronger than others
- that some magnets are made of different materials
- that magnetism is a FORCE (it pushes, pulls, or moves things)
- that some ends ATTRACT and some REPEL
On Tuesday, students read from a tiny textbook, practicing finding and highlighting key words. Students also followed directions in the textbook to discover the NORTH and SOUTH POLES on a magnet and realized that the Earth is a giant magnet.
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| That red end is facing the window...hmmm... |
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| It was tricky to get the magnets to stop wiggling holding the string in our hands. |
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| This red end is pointing towards the windows, too! Resourceful use of a chair to let the magnet move freely. |
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| All of red ends are facing towards the windows...because that's NORTH! |
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| Even the magnets without colored poles followed the same pattern. One marked end always pointed...NORTH. |
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| Scientists using great teamwork to discover the North and South Poles, thanks to MAGNETISM! |
Today, students magnetized their own pieces of steel and made their own COMPASSES. It was frustrating and didn't work every time, but students talked about scientists struggling and still persevering. We revisited the concepts of MAGNETIC FIELDS and the fact that the Earth is a giant magnet.
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| Magnetizing the "needle"" drawing it across a bar magnet made the tiny bits of iron line up with north and south. |
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| The needle is pointing north! |
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| Floating it on a little plastic "boat" allowed it to move freely. |
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| Not all of them worked, so we agreed that we shouldn't use them to navigate the wilderness. |
Core Knowledge Magnetism Objectives:
• Magnetism demonstrates that there are forces we cannot see that act upon objects.
• Most magnets contain iron.
• Lodestones: naturally occurring magnets
• Magnetic poles: north-seeking and south-seeking poles
• Magnetic field (strongest at the poles)
• Law of magnetic attraction: unlike poles attract, like poles repel
• The earth behaves as if it were a huge magnet: north and south magnetic poles
(near, but not the same as, geographic North Pole and South Pole)
• Orienteering: use of a magnetized needle in a compass, which will always point to the north
