Am I Magnetic?

Big Idea: Interaction of magnets

Grade Level: 4
NC Essential Standard: 4.P.1- Explain how various forces affect the motion of an object.
Next Generation Science Standard(s):
4-PS3-1 Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy
of that object.
21st Century Skills:
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving- the students have to find different
metal/magnetic items around the room on their own
Collaboration- the students work with classmates to discuss why they think some items
are magnetic and why some are not.
Academic Language Demand:
Analyze
Interpret

Argue
Predict

Categorize
Question

Compare/contrast Describe
Retell
Summarize

Explain

Language Function: I chose explain because the students must be able to tell someone why the
magnets are attracted to or repelled from each other.
Scientific Vocabulary: Magnet, attract, repel, magnetic, metal
Instructional Objective:
4.P.1.1- Explain how magnets interact with all things made of iron and with other magnets to
produce motion without touching them.
Students will be able to correctly label a magnet with the north and south poles. They will also
be able to find at least 10 items around the room (have to have at least 5 magnetic/metal items).
Some items that they would be able to find around the classroom will be: the legs of their
chairs/desks, the whiteboard, stapler, scissors, etc.
Prior Knowledge (student): Students should already know what magnets are and how they are
used in households.
Content Knowledge (teacher): Teacher should know what magnets are and how they are used.
Teacher should also know that every magnet has a north and south pole. Also, that opposites
attract and likes repel when it comes to magnets. Teacher should have already watched the
Youtube video about magnets and know what it is about.

Accommodations for special needs (individual and/or small group):

ELL- label the items on the tables around the room so they can know what is what and
when they have to find items of their own, pair them up with another student so they can
work together to find items.
Ability- If the student(s) cannot handle the small objects, let them play on this website
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/magnetssprings.html#

Materials and Technology Requirements:

The Youtube video that the students will watch and a computer and projector to watch it
on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak8Bh9Zka50 )
The teacher needs a big magnet that can be labeled clearly for the students to see the
north pole and south pole when we work together to find them.
Each student will get a magnet for them to carry around while they move to each station.
Will need to have metal and non-metal objects for the students to test with their personal
magnets (such as paperclips, slinky, pen, stapler, scissors, tennis ball, and a hairbrush).
Worksheet for the students to fill in as they go to each station (worksheet attached).
Total Estimated Time: 45 minutes
Source of Lesson: Personal made lesson
Safety considerations: Magnets are small that they will be personally using to test the objects at
each station (choking hazard). Make sure students keep the magnets away from phones,
computers, tablets, etc.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

Engage:
Show the Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak8Bh9Zka50
After they watch the video, ask them questions like
What are some things that you learned? (Answers will be varied)
What do all magnets have in common? (Answer: a north and south pole)
What types of objects are magnets attracted to? (Answer: nickel, iron, and cobalt)
Explore:
Students are given a personal magnet. Have them find a partner to figure out which end of their
magnet is the north pole and which is the south pole (through exploration). With a marker, have
them label the North Pole with an N and the South Pole with an S. Make sure every student
is able to correctly label the magnet. Ask them How do you know which end is which?
(Answer: My north pole was attracted to their south pole. *Have the students show you so you
can see that they understand* They will know this because the different poles will be labeled
with the marker).
Students are given the worksheet. The worksheet has a list of the items that are placed on various
tables around the room, and then columns labeled prediction, magnetic or non-magnetic.
At the bottom it provides a place for the students to write an explanation as to why they think
some objects were attracted to and why some others were not attracted to their personal magnet.
Before the students test each item at the stations, they will predict whether they think the item is
magnet or not and put their prediction in that column, After each student has gone to every
station, have them pair up and talk about their findings (make sure they are talking about WHY
they think some were attracted while others were not).
Explanation:
Bring the class back together and talk as a class about their findings. Some questions to lead
them along with their explanations would be- Which items had the strongest attraction to the
magnet?, Did you think that it would be attracted to the magnet before you tested it?, etc. Allow
the students to share their reasons about why they think some items were attracted while others
were not. Take all reasons without giving the correct reason away. Have some of them show you
with their personal magnet why it was attracted or not.
Elaborate:
With their same personal magnet, allow the students to roam around the classroom to find other
objects that are either magnetic or not. Have them make their own list on the back of the
worksheet. Encourage them to think outside of the box!
Evaluate:
After they have found some items of their own, have them come back to their desks. To assess
their progress toward the objective, I will give them two personal magnets that they will need to
label through exploration (with the N for north pole and the S for south pole), they will also
have to write down (on a notecard) an explanation as to why this happens with magnets (Answer:
Every magnet has a north pole and a south pole. Opposite attracts, so north and south are

attracted and likes repel, so if you put a north and north end together it will be repelled- same
with south and south poles). They will turn in the worksheet, the list with other items they found,
and the notecard for a grade (this is the formative assessment).