Magnets Attract!
DescriptioN
Walk on eggs, create structures with half egg shells and design
and build a package that keeps the eggs safe!
PLAN
Scouters should prepare the material. The magnet game is best played outside or somewhere that kids can run around.
MAGNETS ATTRACT!
DO
Activity # 1: What do magnets attract?
Beaver Scouts work in groups of two to three to figure out what objects are attracted
by magnets and which ones are not.
• Scouters give each group a box filled with different objects (pebbles, corks, paper
clips, keys, erasers, coins, iron needles or screws, etc) and some magnets. • Scouters ask Beavers to categorize the objects in any way they what. They
eventually will figure out that some objects are magnetic and some are not.
• When all groups are done, discuss how they organized their items. Scouters will
guide the discussion towards the objects’ interaction with magnets and how they
attract objects made of iron.
• Discuss how magnets are used in daily life. Scouters guide Beavers through
obvious uses of magnets (toys, refrigerator magnets, paperclip holders, some
cabinet doors) to more invisible uses of magnets (credit and debit cards with
magnetic stripes, computers, compass, motors, fans, cars).
Activity # 2: How a compass works?
• Beaver Scouts are divided into groups of two to three. Each Beaver has a magnet
and must figure out how magnets interact with each other. They will soon find out
that opposite colour poles attract each other and like colours repel each other.
• Each group gets a compass and is asked to find out north.
• Beavers put the compass on the floor and arrange their magnets around it in any
shape they want. Which direction do the compasses point to now? Each compass will
show a different direction because of the magnetic fields created by the magnets.
• Beavers are asked to take away the magnets. Now what does the compass show?
The compass will point to the north again. What happened?
• After some discussion, Scouters explain that the compass is a magnet that shows
the magnetic field of the earth and therefore points to the north.
Activity #3: Magnet game
• Each Beaver Scout is given a blue and a red piece of fabric (or rope). They should
tie the fabrics on their wrists and each color will be a magnetic pole.
• Beavers should hide their hands and gather in the middle.
• On the count of three, Beavers will hold their arms up and move like a plane. They
should form a magnetic chain by holding each others’ hands. But they should
remember that like poles repel and unlike poles attract.
• The game can be repeated several times to see if they are getting faster as a
group. They can also decide what other shapes they want to create and try it out
(square, circle, star, etc.).
REVIEW
Here are some questions to ask once the activity is complete:
• What did you learn about magnets today? What do you want to know more?
• How can you use what you learned today in a camp or on a hike?
BEAVER SCOUTS
• What elements of STEM were in this activity? Science? Technology?
Engineering? Mathematics?
• What did you like about these activities and games? What did you not like?
• How would you do them differently?
STEM Pilots – Fall 2013
Magnets Attract!
Activity
Time
1. Experimenting with Magnets
10 min
2. Discussion about magnets in daily life
5 min
3. Experimenting with compass
10 min
4. Magnet game
10 min
Review
5 min
Material Needed:
Activity #1:
• Bar magnets with colored poles (one for each Beaver Scout)
• A variety of small metal (made of iron and other material)
and non-metal objects for each group of 2-3 Beavers
• Shoe boxes for each group to put the materials
Activity #2:
• Bar magnets with colored poles (one for each Beaver)
• Compass (one for each group of 3-4)
Activity #3:
• Red and blue fabrics or ropes
Find more information about the Earth’s magnetic field
Find more information about how magnets work