ELEM 631
Dr. Linda Pickett
Winthrop University
“Keep away from people who try to
belittle your ambitions. Small
people always do that, but the
really great make you feel that you,
too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain
Agenda

Revised rubrics for presentation and
narrative

FOSS Magnetism and Electricity Kit
– Magnetism
– Electricity
– Electromagnetism

Assessment ideas for Elementary Science
FOSS Program
Any prior experiences?
 Coordinated science curriculum from the

Lawrence Hall of Science – University of
California, Berkeley
Research-based
 Classroom-tested
 Based on brain research and children’s
developmental stages – look at Thinking
Processes on chart on page 152

Instructional Pedagogies
Inquiry
 Hands-on Active Learning
 Multisensory Methods
 Student-to-Student Interactions

– Grades 3-6 - groups of 4 and share materials
– Grades K-2 – work in groups but have own materials
“Working alone...together”

Discourse and Reflective Thinking
Assessing Student Learning

Content Knowledge

Conducting Investigations

Building Explanations

Assessment Strategies:
– Observations and interviews
– Scoring guides and recording strategies
– Short summative test and system for portfolio
assessment
Quick Write
Engage

Please write three things you know about
magnetism.

What experiences you have had with
magnetism?
Neodymium Magnets
Engage

NIB magnet (also called a rare earth
magnet) is a powerful magnet made of a
combination of neodymium, iron, and
boron

Used for stabilization and angular head
motors in computer hard drives
A neodymium magnet lifting
1300 times its own mass
How much could you lift if you
were a neodymium magnet?
Magnetic Observations
Exploration

Staying seated, use your magnet to explore.
– What are some of the things it sticks to?

Put magnets aside

Sort test objects into 2 groups:
– things that will stick to a magnet
– things that will not stick to a magnet

Test to confirm predictions
Page 169
Exploration
Page 169

Test objects in classroom – do not put
magnets near computers, screens, credit
cards, CDs, jump drives.

What happens when two magnets come
together?

Can you make a temporary magnet out of
a nail?
Explanation

What do magnets stick to?
– Objects made of iron or steel

Why does it stick to the rock?
– Lodestone – contains the mineral magnetite
which is rich in iron

Attract and Repel
– Put 4 magnets on a pencil and make them
“float”
Breaking the Force
Elaboration and Extension
Materials
 1 magnet-on-a-post
 1 magnet
 1 balance
 2 plastic cups
 1 bag of washers
 6 spacers
 Paper to record data
Breaking the Force Investigation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Put the magnet on a post in the hole on
the bottom of the balance.
Put the cups in the holes.
Put the doughnut magnet in the cup
above the magnet on a post.
Stack washers in the other cup until you
break the force between the two
magnets.
Data Table
Please enter the # of washers that “broke the force”
Number of spacers
Initials
0
1
SS
17
10
BM
19
11
JE
16
10
2
3
4
5
6
Do
Not
6
5
4
4
5
5
4
3
6
5
4
4
Test
Yet
Graph the Data – Page 171
Use the recording sheet: The Force
 Independent variable? Where does it go?

# of spacers – X axis

Dependent variable? Where does it go?
# of washers – Y axis
Plot the data points
 Do not connect points with straight edge
 Interpolate - Hypothesize # of washers for
2 spacers
 Test to confirm your hypothesis
 Share a graph

What do the graphs mean?

The points represent the relationship between:
– The distance between the two magnets (# of
spacers) and
– The force of the magnetic attraction between
the two magnets (# of washers needed to
“break the force”).

Curved (sloped) graph – is a non-linear graph that
indicates the relationship between the two
variables. It means the relationship between the
two variables is not constant.

Extrapolate – predict for more than 6 spacers
Use graphs to draw conclusions
Explanation
Washers are used to quantify the force
of the magnetic attraction between two
magnets.
The greater the distance between two
magnets, the weaker the force of the
magnetic attraction between them.
Word Bank
Explanation

Force
– A push or pull

Magnet
– An object that sticks to iron

Magnetism
– A specific kind of force

Attract
– When magnets pull together

Repel
– When magnets push apart
Word Bank
Explanation

Temporary magnet
– A piece of iron or steel that behaves like a magnet
when it is touching a permanent magnet

Permanent magnet
– Permanent magnetic fields have been induced and
will remain unless the magnet is dropped or heated.
– Used to be made of iron, but now aluminum, nickel,
cobalt, ferrite, neodymium are used to make
powerful, long-lasting magnets.
Making Connections
Lighting a Bulb

Materials: 2 light bulbs, 2 D-Cells, 2
short wires, 1 circuit base
Use a D-Cell and two wires (no light
bulb holder) to light the bulb.
 Trace the path of electricity.
 Now light the bulb using only one wire.
 Again, trace the path of electricity.

Pages 172-173
Circuit - A pathway for the flow of electricity – by
convention we say it goes from negative to
positive
 The electricity must travel in a complete path
(circle) from one end of the battery, through the
parts of the circuit and back into the battery.
 Filament - The part in a light bulb that gets hot
and produces light
 Look at Response Sheet – Bulbs (page 174)

– Do you think the bulb will light?

Hands-on Circuit Activity
Put the light bulb in the holder and put
the battery in the battery holder on the
circuit base.
 Push down on the Fahnstock clips to
insert the wires.
 Light the bulb.

Making a Motor Run
 Pick
up a motor
 Build
a circuit , using 1 D-cell, that
will make the motor run.
 Get
a switch.
 Wire in the switch so you can turn
the motor on and off.
 What does the switch do?
Opens and closes the circuit.
 Build
a circuit that will light 1 light
bulb and can be turned on and off
with a switch.
Finding Conductors and
Insulators – p. 175

Pick up 2 long wires and a bag of test
objects

Sort test objects into two groups:
Conductors – conduct electricity
Insulators – do not conduct electricity

Set up testing circuits and confirm
hypotheses
Concepts

All metals are conductors.

Metals that are covered with an
insulating layer will not conduct
electricity.
Building Series Circuits
 Turn
in motors and 2 long wires
 Pick up 2nd light bulb in holder, 1
additional short wire, and 1 switch
 Build circuit that will light two bulbs
with one battery
 Why
are the light bulbs dim?

Use 2nd battery in holder to make two
light bulbs burn brightly.
– Use wire to connect the two batteries
– How do batteries have to be positioned?

Series circuit - a circuit with only one
pathway for current flow

Students do Page 176 as an assessment
Building Parallel Circuits
You will need 2 long wires and 4 short
wires
 Use 1 battery to get 2 light bulbs burn
brightly. Students use page 177 to
record their solutions.
 Try some of the different solutions
shown on Elmo.
 Parallel circuit - splits into two or more
pathways before coming together at the
battery

Online resources
Game
Jeremy – iPad apps
Current Attractions
Part 1: Building an Electromagnet
 Materials: 1 rivet, 1 electromagnet wire, 1
short wire, 1 circuit base, 1 D-cell, 1
switch, 1 bag of small washers
 Work with your partner to make an
electromagnet that will lift the washers.

Word Bank

Electromagnet
– A coil of insulated wire, usually wound around a core
of iron or steel, which produces a magnetic field
when electricity flows through the wire.

Core
– The material around which a coil is wound

Coil
– Insulated wire wound repeatedly around a central
core
Concepts

A magnet can be made by winding an
insulated wire around an iron core and
running current through the wire.

The magnetism produced by an
electromagnet can be turned on and off.
Part 2: Changing Number of Winds

How can you change the strength of an
electromagnet?
Groups of 4
 Materials: 1 rivet, 1 electromagnet wire, 1 short
wire, 1 circuit base, 1 D-cell, 1 switch, 1 cup of
small washers
 Recording sheet: Winding Electromagnets –

page 178
Concepts

What was the general pattern you saw in
the way the number of winds affects the
strength of an electromagnet?
The more winds on the core of an
electromagnet, the stronger the
magnetism.
Switch
to PP
It is assessment that helps us
distinguish between teaching and
learning.
Prior Knowledge and Alternative
Assessment Strategies
Brainstorming
 Discussions
 Think-pair-share
 Concept maps
 Drawings
 Venn Diagrams and written summaries
 Science journal/notebooks entries


Design assessment strategies that are
easy for your students to understand and
provide different ways for them to
demonstrate their learning.

Try to grade work and activities done in
class as much as possible

Page 302 in your packet

Feel free to use or modify any of these
ideas when you are designing
assessments for your lesson plans.
Unit is due on Thursday

Turn in hard copies of the three lesson
plans with all required activity sheets,
assessments, and attachments

Please label each Lesson Plan as 1, 2, or 3

Include a rubric with each lesson plan

Submit each lesson plan and all
attachments to Live Text by 1:00 on
Thursday – be sure to submit as correct
assignments