Magnetic Magic
Grade: 3
Strand: Matter and Materials
Topic: Magnetism
Overall Expectations:
3s27 Students will demonstrate an understanding of the properties of materials that can be
magnetized or charged and of how materials are affected by magnets or static electric charges.
3s28 Students will identify and describe, using their observations, ways in which static
electric charges are made in everyday materials, as well as different types of interactions that
take place both between charged materials and between magnetized materials;
3s29 Students will identify familiar uses of magnets and give examples of static electric
charges that are created in the home or at school.
Specific Expectations:
3s31 Students will classify, using their observations, materials that are magnetic and not
magnetic, and identify materials that can be magnetized (e.g., iron, nickel).
3s40 Students will ask questions about and identify problems related to magnetic and static
electric forces, and explore possible answers or solutions (e.g., investigate ways of producing
static electric charges in different materials).
3s45 Students will identify uses of magnets in familiar things (e.g., refrigerator magnets,
compasses, door seal on a refrigerator, and magnetic catches on cupboards);
Experiment:
Materials:
1. One iron nail
2. One bar magnet
3. One box of straight pins or paperclips
The Procedure:
1. Touch the paper clip to the nail – nothing happens.
2. Stroke the nail with the bar magnet ten times in the same direction.
3. Touch the paper clip to the nail again – this time the nail is magnetized and the paperclip
will be attracted to it.
Scientific Explanation:
The atoms in a piece of iron are magnets, with north poles and south poles. However, most
pieces of iron are not magnetic because the atoms point in different directions. When a magnet is
brought near a piece of iron, the atoms line up with the applied magnetic field. The north poles of
the iron atoms all point in the same direction. Because the iron atoms line up, the piece of iron
becomes magnetized. When using a nail and a bar magnet, the nail becomes magnetic when
rubbed against the magnet. The iron atoms in the nail align in one direction, this is called
magnetic induction. The nail becomes a magnetic and can now attract other iron objects.
This picture depicts the atoms in the nail
pointing in different directions before the
magnet is applied.
This picture depicts the iron atoms in the
nail aligned in one direction after the
magnet is applied.
Considerations and Opportunities:
As educators we must consider that students will need access to the definitions of terminology
used in the experiment prior to, or during the demonstration. Safety issues must also be
addressed when using pointy nails in a primary and junior classroom setting.
There are multiple ways educators can experiment with magnets in the classroom. They are fun
and easy to use. Teachers can bring in iron filings and magnets for students to explore, or bring
in a variety of objects and allow students to determine which objects can be magnetized.
Teachers can introduced magnetic induction using this experiment, or demonstrate other
concepts such as electromagnetism using a battery, copper wire and an iron nail, and
diamagnetism using magnets and grapes. The opportunities are endless and very cost effective.
References:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/, California Department of Education, Flinn Scientific,
Inc., booth at the 1990 National Science Teachers Association convention.
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/Information_Magnetic.cfm, 2008 ©
Canada Science and Technology Museum.
Overend Prior, Jennifer. (1999). Magnets. Westminster: Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
http://www.magicexhibit.org/resources, California Science Center. (Accessed February 2008).
Prepared and Performed by: Robin Alcorn Wills & Kelly Crawford