Barbara J. Baker - Doolittle West School  



About Magnets

Barbara J. Baker               Doolittle West School  
                               521 East 35th Street
                               CHICAGO IL  60615
                               (773) 535-1050 

Objective(s):

                 This lesson is designed for second grade level students. 
                 Conduct simple experiments and observations and explain what 
                 was discovered.  Designing a magnet from a sewing needle. 
                 Making a compass.  Understanding the vocabulary terms.
                             
Materials Needed:

                 Magnets, sewing needles, cheerios cereal, nails or screws 
                 paperclips, hair pins, sand, water, paper cups, large 
                 container, cork, contrasting paper towel to place the sand on 
                 for example, if you use white sand, use a brown paper towel 

Strategy:   

                 Students will be placed in cooperative groups to work the 
                 procedures and to study the following vocabulary words:  

                           magnetic fields        magnetic force
                           magnetic strength      magnetized particles
                           north & south poles    compass
                           procedure              compare       
                           repel                  contrast
                           attract                iron

                 Each group will have a recorder and presenter who will work 
                 together to illustrate the phrases by drawings or explanations 
                 which will be shared with the whole class. 
                  
                 By dragging the magnet across the sand, students will observe
                 that sand often contains particles of iron.

                 After the cereal has been crushed, magnets will be dragged 
                 across it to see if any iron from the cereal adheres to the 
                 magnet.

                 Magnets will be placed in water and later attract pins to test 
                 if water interferes with the magnetic field, the same magnet 
                 will be dragged over the sand to compare and contrast the 
                 findings. 

                 Moving the magnet across the needle will magnetized the needle, 
                 the needle will be inserted into a cork and placed in the large 
                 container of water to observe how this handmade compass is 
                 working 
                                                          
Performance Assessment:

                 Students should demonstrate comprehension through visual 
                 observation of how the students completed the procedures.  The 
                 comprehension of the terms and the use of these terms with 95% 
                 or higher accuracy.  If a magnet or a compass is brought in 
                 for show and tell, the student is showing retention and 
                 continued interest in magnets. 

Conclusions:        

                 The earth and many things in the earth are magnetic.
                    
References:         
                 Off the Wall Science, A Poster Series Revisited
                 365 Science Projects
                 Encyclopedia of Science Projects