2nd Grade Magnet Unit

GLEs

Forces affect motion

Concept: Forces are classified as either contact [pushes, pulls, friction, buoyancy] or non-contact forces [gravity, magnetism] that can be described in terms of direction and magnitude Grade 2: a. Recognize magnets attract and repel each other and certain materials b. Describe magnetism as a force that can push or pull other objects without touching them Content Piece

Process Piece

Step in Lesson:

Activities:

Engage

This could be anything to get the students interested, or you could go straight to Explore, since magnets are inherently interesting. One suggestion would be to begin by showing the students something really impressive like a magnet holding up a car.

Explore

Day 1: Provide lots of objects [magnetic and nonmagnetic] and as many different shapes and strengths of Observe with senses magnets as possible. Have the students explore the objects and magnets. Provide a worksheet so that each Communicate student can record his or her observations by either observations drawing or naming the objects they tested: Use simple tools Object Moved by a Magnet?

When you think the majority of students are ready, ask them to look at the objects that were moved by a magnet and think about what those objects have in common. Ask the students to come up with a rule to describe the kinds of things that are moved by a magnet. [This would be a perfect Think-Write-PairShare]

Inquiry GLE / process skill:

Use observations to describe a relationship / make a reasonable explanation

Explain

Explore

Have pairs share out their rules. Discuss as a class how we “test” rules by trying something new and seeing if the rule “works”. What could we do to test our rules? Hold up an object and ask students to predict whether it will attract a magnet. Ask students to justify their prediction [this makes the connection to the “rule”] Do this with several different objects. This will lead into further exploration over the question of whether magnets attract all metals. [At this point they don’t have to use the words attract and repel; move or push are fine]

Provide students an assortment of metal objects to test whether magnets attract / move all metals. [Someone is bound to notice that magnets move each other, but if not, remind them that magnets are also made of metal]

Predict / justify

Observe with senses Communicate observations Use simple tools

Explain

Explore

Come up with a refined rule for what kinds of objects magnets attract. This will require discussing the different kinds of metal. [pages 320-321 in book]. Have students copy the rule into their notes, science journal, or under their observation sheet.

Ask the students whether or not the magnet has to actually touch the object. Some students may not have noticed, so allow some time for observation. Make sure everyone works slowly enough to see objects pulled to the magnet without first being touched by it [iron nails are great for this]. This is very different from our ability to push only if we’re touching.

Explain

Discuss the need for special words for the magnet’s ability to push and pull without touching. Introduce the words attract for pull and repel for push. [You will need to demonstrate repel with the bar magnets]

Evaluate

Provide a worksheet with pictures of objects and have students identify which would be attracted by a magnet [make sure they are not objects that were already tested]. Ask them to write the rule about what kinds of objects magnets will attract.

Use observations to describe a rule

Observe with senses Communicate observations Use simple tools

Predict / justify

Extend #1

Ask students if there is a relationship between the size of the magnet and how strong it is [how easily it moves objects]. Survey the room. What did they observe when they were working with their magnets? Ask students how the class could do an experiment to Conduct a simple test the question. Allow lots of time for discussion investigation [with [perhaps small groups?] With the class, develop a teacher assistance] simple plan to use several different sizes of magnets on the same objects. The best way would be to measure the weight of an object and see which magnets can pick up the most weight. Record results. Develop a conclusion.

Extend #2

The Investigation in the book about magnets pulling things through other materials [page 323]

***The best time to read the textbook is AFTER the students have done their exploration and explanation. I think the students could now read Lesson 5 and have it be useful in synthesizing information.

Vocabulary Magnet Attract Repel Metal Force