Share with Your Students
Name
Date
Vocabulary
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.1
INFORMATION SHEET
magnet a material that attracts steel,
iron, cobalt, and nickel
Magnets come in many shapes and
sizes. Materials that contain iron, steel,
nickel, and cobalt are attracted to, or
pulled toward, a magnet. Magnets also
attract the mineral magnetite and other
magnets. Materials that are attracted to
a magnet are described as magnetic.
What Is a Magnet?
1. Make copies of Student Resource 1.1, Vocabulary, and
distribute to students. Discuss the definitions with
students as terms come up throughout the section.
magnetite a mineral that is naturally
magnetic
Magnetite contains iron and is a
weak magnet. Early explorers used
magnetite to find north. Magnetite is
sometimes called lodestone.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
2. Ask: What is a magnet? (a material that attracts steel,
iron, cobalt, and nickel) Survey the class to find out how
many students have used magnets. Discuss how the
magnets are used. (Likely responses will include use of
magnets to hold items on a refrigerator.) Ask: What
happens as the magnet is brought near a refrigerator door? (It is pulled toward the door.) Explain
that this “pull” is a force of attraction. Ask: What is a
force? (a push or a pull) Point out that magnets exert forces on objects even when they aren’t touching.
That’s because magnetic force acts even at a distance.
MAGNETS AND ELECTROMAGNETISM • SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MAGNET? • 9
Student Resource 1.1 (p. 9)
Name
What Materials Do
Magnets Attract?
Date
Testing for Magnetic Attraction
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.2
ACTIVITY SHEET
1 Read the list of materials in the table. Predict which
materials the magnet will attract. Write Yes or No in the
Prediction column.
Metal Sample
Prediction
Attracted to Magnet?
Test Result
Attracted to Magnet?
aluminum foil
Predictions may vary.
no
Objectives
• Students predict what materials a magnet will attract and then test
their predictions.
no
(copper and zinc)
penny
no
iron rivet
yes
magnetite rock
yes
silver
no
steel nail
no
steel paper clip
yes
2 Test each material with the magnet. In the Test Result
column, write Yes if the material is attracted to the magnet.
Write No if the material is not attracted to the magnet.
Conclusions
3 Which metals were attracted to the magnet?
Iron and steel were attracted to the magnet.
4 What metals were not attracted to the magnet?
• Students identify materials that are attracted to a magnet.
Materials
For the class
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
brass brad
aluminum, brass, copper-zinc, silver
10 • MAGNETS AND ELECTROMAGNETISM • SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MAGNET?
66023.Sec04pg009_011 .indd
10
Student Resource 1.2 (p. 10)
4 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
Pairs
20 minutes
9/4/05
2:09:30 PM
2 pc.
aluminum foil
2
2
brass brads
2
16
index cards
16
plastic trays
2 pc.
magnetite
2
rivets, iron
16
magnets, ferrite
2
silver jewelry or other
objects
1
*marker
2
nails
paper clips
*pennies
*Not provided in kit
What Materials Do Magnets Attract? (continued)
Student Resource
• 1.2 Testing for Magnetic
Attraction
Inquiry Focus
• Predict
In Advance
• Place one sample of each material to be tested in a separate plastic
tray. Make two trays for each item. Use an index card to label the
type of metal found on each tray:
❍
aluminum foil: aluminum
❍
brass brad: brass
❍
iron: iron rivet
❍
“magnetite rock”
❍
nail: steel
❍
paper clip: steel
❍
penny: copper and zinc
❍
silver jewelry (or other object): silver
• Set up 16 stations around the room, each containing one tray.
1. Discuss what kinds of materials are attracted to
magnets.
Ask: What kinds of materials are attracted to magnets? (Students may say that metals are attracted to
magnets. Accept all answers for now.) Tell students that
they will conduct some experiments to find out.
A Ferrite magnet
Teaching Tip
Step 3: Never place magnets
near audio or video tapes, diskettes, TVs, VCRs, computers, or
other magnetic media.
2. Distribute the Student Resource and have
students make predictions.
Make copies of Student Resource 1.2, Testing for
Magnetic Attraction, and distribute to students. Have
students read the list of metals in the table and then
fill out the Prediction column.
3. Prepare students to test materials.
Provide each pair with a ferrite magnet. Tell students
they will be moving around the room to test their
predictions. Explain that they should test the metal at
each station with the magnet. If the metal is attracted
to (pulled toward) the magnet, they should write Yes in
the Test Result column of the table. If the metal is not
attracted to the magnet, they should write No.
SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MAGNET? • 5
What Materials Do Magnets Attract? (continued)
Teaching Tip
Step 4: You might explain that
pennies today are made of copper
and zinc. Neither is attracted by
a magnet. Prior to 1982 pennies
were made entirely of copper.
4. Discuss students’ observations.
Ask: What metals did the magnet attract? (iron
and steel) Remind students that only certain metals
are magnetic, or attracted to a magnet. These include
iron, cobalt, nickel, and steel. Point out that steel is a
blend of materials that includes iron and carbon. Ask:
Did the magnet attract the magnetite? (yes) Why?
(Magnetite is naturally magnetic.) Tell students that
magnetite contains iron, a metal that is magnetic.
Assessment
Ask: Would a steel rod be attracted to the
magnet? Why or why not? (Yes. Magnets attract
materials made of steel.)
Is Cereal Magnetic?
10 minutes
Teacher
Demonstration
Objectives
• Students observe that some cereals contain iron.
Materials
For the teacher
•
1
1
1
•
*breakfast cereals
(including Whole Grain
Total™)
magnet, cow
*overhead projector
Petri dish
*water
*Not provided in kit
6 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
Inquiry Focus
• Observe
Is Cereal Magnetic? (continued)
1. Set up materials.
Place a Petri dish on an overhead projector. Carefully fill
the Petri dish with water.
Cow magnet
A Using a magnet to attract the iron
in cereal
Teaching Tip
Step 2: Tell students that ranchers use a device to insert a cow
magnet into the first of a cow’s
four stomachs. The magnet attracts small pieces of wire that
enter the cow’s feed from bales of
hay. When food eaten by the cow
moves into the next stomach, the
pieces of wire remain behind.
2. Students make observations.
Break apart some of the pieces of cereal that are NOT
Total™ and not high in iron. Float these pieces on the
water in the Petri dish. Turn on the projector. Hold the
cow magnet near a piece of the cereal without touching it. Tell students to observe the cereal as you move
the magnet toward the edge of the Petri dish. (The
cereal piece will not be pulled.) Now repeat with small
pieces of the Whole Grain Total™ flakes. (The flake
pieces are pulled by the magnet.) Turn off the projector.
3. Discuss students’ observations.
Show students the Nutrition Facts label of the Total™
cereal box. Explain that this label tells buyers what
nutrients are in the cereal and the amounts of these
nutrients in one serving. Ask a volunteer to read aloud
each of the nutrients listed. Ask: Which nutrient is
attracted to a magnet? (iron) Explain that the cereal
flakes contain iron, a nutrient needed by humans in
their diet. Repeat the experiment using other cereals
students brought in.
Assessment
Ask: Why were the flakes of cereal attracted
to the magnet? (The iron in the cereal is attracted to the
magnet; it is magnetic.)
Extension
Seeing Iron in Cereal
Pour a cup of Total™ cereal flakes into a blender with two
cups of milk. Holding one end of the cow magnet against
the blender vessel, turn on the blender for 30 seconds. Tell
students to closely observe the area of the blender nearest
the magnet. (Black particles can be seen near where the
magnet is located.) Remove the magnet quickly and have
students observe what happens. (The black particles fall
to the bottom of the blender.) Tell students that the black
particles are pieces of iron that separated out of the cereal
as it was blended.
SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MAGNET? • 7
Section Assessment
Name
Date
Section 1 Assessment
STUDENT RESOURCE 1.3
ASSESSMENT SHEET
Vocabulary
1 What is a magnet?
a material that attracts iron, steel, cobalt, and nickel
Magnetic Attraction
2 A student uses a magnet to find out which nail is iron and
Materials
For each station
1
magnet, ferrite
1
plastic tray containing one
aluminum foil, brass brad,
iron rivet, and paper clip
Student Resource
• 1.3 Section 1 Assessment
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
which nail is aluminum. Which drawing shows the aluminum
nail? Circle your answer.
1. Set up enough materials stations around the room to
allow one-third of the class to work alone at a station
during the hands-on portion of the assessment.
2. Make copies of Student Resource 1.3, Section 1
Assessment, and distribute to students.
Identifying Magnetic Materials
Test each material in the tray to see if it is attracted to the
magnet. Write Yes next to each material the magnet attracts.
Write No next to each material the magnet does not attract.
no
aluminum foil
4
no
brass brad
5
yes
rivet
6
yes
paper clip
3
7 Which objects contain iron, steel, cobalt, or nickel?
rivet and paper clip
MAGNETS AND ELECTROMAGNETISM • SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MAGNET? • 11
Student Resource 1.3 (p. 11)
8 • EXPERIENCE SCIENCE
3. Divide the class into three groups. While one group is
working at the stations to complete the hands-on
portion of the assessment, the other two groups can be
completing the top part of the assessment. Rotate the
groups through the stations until each has completed
the hands-on portion of the assessment.
4.Discuss the answers as a whole-class activity.