Bonnie Parker
An Introduction to Magnets and Magnetism
Grade: 3
Objective/Purpose:
Students will identify the properties of magnets. Students will investigate
magnets and how they affect other magnets and common objects. Students will
understand that information can be gathered through observation and experimentation.
Students will recognize that magnets have poles that attract and repel. Students will
recognize that there are forces in the world created by natural phenomenon that we can’t
see but which nonetheless have a real effect on objects that we can see. Magnetism is one
of these forces. Students will learn about the magnetic field which is strongest at the
poles.
GA Performance Standards:
• (SCI.3.P.2.a)Investigate to find common objects that are attracted to magnets.
• (SCI.3.P.2.b)Investigate how magnets attract and repel each other.
Time Required: 45-60 minutes
Materials:
• a nail-one for each student
• paper clips -at least 8 for each student
• bar magnets -one for each student
• At least one set of magnets strong enough to feel the poles repel and attract
• Overhead
• One blank transparency
• Iron filings
• Drawing paper – one per student
• Pencil – one per student
• Picture of lodgestone
Optional:
• Pictures showing the uses of magnets
• the Greek myth involving Magnes and lodgestone
Preparation:
Gather the necessary materials and test the experiments prior to class.
Safety:
Do not let the students handle the iron filings and take care not to get them in your eyes.
Nails are sharp. Advise the students to handle with care.
Activity Outline/Teacher Precedures:
Begin the lesson by introducing the vocabulary words: magnet, attract, strength,
poles, repel, magnetic forces, and magnetize. Explain that some magnets are found in
nature, some are made. Lodgestone is a kind of magnet found in the ground. Show a
picture of lodgestone. (You could look up and read the Greek myth involving Magnes
and lodgestone). Magnets are the same in one way. They attract objects made of iron.
They do not attract objects made of materials. Magnets may be different in other ways.
They may be round or square, big or small, straight or curved. They may be different
colors. Magnets may be different in strength, or how strongly they pull. One magnet may
attract more paper clips than others may. Ask the students “Where have you seen
magnets used before?” People use magnets to hold things closed and lift things. They
also use them in televisions, electric motors, refridgerators, VHS tapes, cassette tapes,
credit cards, TV’s, computer monitors, and microphones. You can share pictures of the
many uses of magnets.
Tell the students that “today, you are going to be scientists and conduct different
experiments to learn about the properties of magnets.” Ask the students to look around
the room and hypothesize 3 things that they think the magnet will or will not stick to (you
can explain the use of the word attract after the activity). Write a few of the hypotheses
(you may need to define the word hypothesis) in a column on the board. Give the
students a magnet and allow them 2 minutes to move around the room and test their
hypothesis. You should set ground rules like “Don’t use the magnet near the computer.”
After they return to their seats, have them share their answers. Write the results in an
adjacent column on the board. Discuss why the magnet was attracted to some things and
not others.
In order to show the invisible field of force surrounding a magnet, lay a blank
transparency on the overhead. Put a magnet in the middle of the transparency. Carefully
spread out the iron filings around the magnet. The filings will become magnetized by the
invisible magnetic field. Point out that most of the filings will go to the ends of the
magnet. Explain that these are the poles of the magnet, North and South. Magnets have
a magnetic field with the strongest magnetic forces at its poles. (Magnetic strips are not
pure magnets and don’t have poles). Every magnet has a N pole and a S pole. Two poles
that are different attract, or pull, each other. Two poles that are the same repel, or push
each other away. Draw an example of the attraction of a N and S pole and the repulsion
of a N and N pole or S and S pole. Pass around a set of magnets that are strong enough to
feel the attraction and repulsion. Evan more, you can ask the students to take out a pencil
and paper and draw a magnet (just a rectangle) in the middle of the paper. Divide it in
half and shade one half with the pencil to illustrate the N and S pole. Use the pencil to
show how the magnetic field around the magnet looks. Use curved lines to demonstrate.
Collect and evaluate that their drawing demonstrates their understanding of the field of
force.
Next, you can re-introduce the concept of magnetism by having each student make a
magnet. Give each student a bar magnet, a nail, and several paper clips. Using a bar
magnet, ask the students to pick up some paper clips. Next, try to pick up the paper clips
using the nail. Does it work? Now, you will try to turn the nail into a magnet. Stroke the
nail in one direction (not back and forth) with one end of the magnet about 40 times.
Now, have the students use the nail to pick up the paper clips. The nail has been
magnetized. How many clips will it pick up? It is as strong as the bar magnet? Drop the
nail on the floor a few times. Will it still pick up as many clips? What does this tell you
about the effect of dropping a magnet?
Last, review the lesson by going back over the vocabulary and asking questions
about the activities. Possible Questions: What is a magnet? What are some ways people
use magnets? What are poles? What do poles do? What is magnetic force? Where is a
magnet the strongest? Extra: Give the students a worksheet reviewing the concepts
discussed.
Assessment/Evalution:
This lesson is just an introduction to these concepts. In order to fully grasp the ideas,
future lessons on the properties of magnets are necessary.
Back Ground Notes for Magnes
There was a Greek Shepard named Magnes who was
tending his sheep, He had been a Shepard his whole life. It was a
good life. He could take a nap when he wanted, eat when he
wanted and walk the countryside whenever he chose. He often
would walk over rocks to look for wolves or other animals that
could attack his sheep. One day while he was standing on one of
these rocks, he saw a very pack of wolves. He began to jump down,
but his foot was stuck and he tried to move his staff to steady
himself, it was stuck as well. He thought that he was cursed by the
gods and prayed that he would be released. He used all of his
strength and pulled his foot off the rock and his staff and chased
after the wolves and protected his flock. He returned to the rock
and found that he became stuck again. He pulled a piece off the
rock and took it back to his village. The stone that became know as
lodestone was thought to have magical powers. People would wear
it and keep it near them. We call lodestone today magnetite.
Background Notes for China
A long time ago in China, people discovered lodestone
and realized that it always pointed in the same direction when it
hung on a string. The Chinese made the first compass. A compass
points North and South. It helped people find their way when they
were traveling on the sea. They used lodestone or magnetite and
shaped it into the shape of a spoon. They called them South
pointers. The handle would point south and the bowl would point
to the North.