UNIT PLAN FOR SCIENCE
Topic: Forces and Magnets
Year group: 3
Term: 3
Teacher: _________________________
Facts to entice chn:
 The first magnets ever used were natural stones called lodestones. The word ‘lode’ means ‘lead’ and so the stone was used to magnetise compass needles and lead sailors home.
 Archimedes, the famous scientist from ancient Greece, is supposed to have pulled the nails out of enemy ships by using lodestone. The ships then came apart, causing them to sink.
 Some vets use magnets to pick up pieces of wire or other metal from inside the stomachs of large farm animals.
 Today, new trains use magnets to lift them off the ground so that they float above the tracks. Floating allows the train to run more efficiently.
Date
L.O.
To identify magnets in
everyday life and how
they move.
Success Criteria
Must:
I can explain what a push
and pull movement
looks like.
Scientific language:
Lesson 1
Force: a push, pull, twist
or turn caused when two
objects interact with each
other.
Magnet: an object or
device that attracts iron or
another magnetic
material.
Should:
I can explain where I
have seen a magnet
push or pull.
Could:
I can explain which ends
of two magnets will push
and pull each other.
Whole class work
TTYP: Where have we seen magnets used in
our lives and what was the magnet doing?
Before watching the video chn to practise a
‘push’ and a ‘pull’. Lean across the table and
hold palms up with the person opposite (some
chn may have to move, also clear pen holders).
Practise a ‘push’ and a ‘pull’ on the CT’s say so.
We will watch the video twice. At the end of
the first viewing class to discuss where they
thought there was a push or pull. Chn in pairs
to write down push and pull in large letters,
one word on each wb. During the second
viewing chn to hold up the correct wb or shout
out push/pull.
Contact: touching.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z9dkjxs
Non-contact: not
touching.
Chn to make a table with the columns
‘push/pull’ and ‘how’. Model with examples
i.e. Pull: badge, How: pulling (attracting) the
metal from the badge to my T-shirt. See if they
can come up with examples with magnets.
Independent work
including differentiation
Plenary
Resources
Activity:
Working in mixed abilities chn
to complete page 36 of the
resources pack. In groups of 3
chn to arrange two magnets
in different directions next to
each other and describe what
happens.
Watch the start
to this video:
http://www.pla
ybackschools.or
g.uk/programm
e/2907/dancemoving-likemagnets
Page 36 of the
resources pack.
Clarify that describing what
happens is what we call
‘results’ in a science
experiment. If they talk
about what they think will
happen first this is called the
‘prediction’. Ensure chn label
their diagrams.
What is
happening to
the blue and
red ends of the
magnets?
Permanent
magnets with
blue and red
ends clearly
identified.
1
Date
L.O.
Success Criteria
To generate questions to
investigate the forces of a
magnet.
Must:
I can ask a question to
find out how a magnet
works.
Scientific language:
Should:
I can make a prediction
about how a magnet
works.
Attract: pull towards.
Repel: push away.
Lesson 2
Magnetic: attracted to a
magnet.
Non-magnetic: not
attracted to a magnet.
Iron: a metal that can be
made into a magnet.
Prediction: what you think
might happen in a
scientific test.
Methodology: how you
will carry out your
scientific test/experiment.
Could:
I can explain the steps I
will take in an
experiment to prove my
prediction.
Whole class work
Share these statements with tables in mixed
abilities. Chn to use speaking frames or
questions to discuss their ideas and present
back to the class. Provide sugar paper for one
person in each group to give a reason why.
Challenge statements:
Magnets can be made out of all metals. (False:
they can only be made from iron, cobalt or
nickel.)
People use magnets to dress up. (True to join
jewellery or used as buttons.)
All silver coloured items are attracted to a
magnet. (False: aluminium is silver but not
attracted).
Larger magnets are stronger than smaller ones.
(False – the size is not directly related but the
force is, like the size of a person is not related
to their strength.)
CT to give an overview of magnets and how we
came to use them to help answer their
questions. See the background information at
the end of this plan. Chn to write down 3 facts
they have learnt about magnets on their sugar
paper.
Independent work
including differentiation
In their tables or groups of 3,
chn to come up with
investigative questions.
Discuss why questions and a
methodology are necessary
i.e. the need to seek an
answer and how to achieve it.
In the next lesson we will be
using these materials to find
out which ones are attracted
to magnets.
 Paperclips
 Iron filings
 Materials: paper, tin foil,
fabric, thin wood, water in a
beaker etc..
 A ruler
Each table to come up with a
list of questions to help us
conduct the experiment and 4
steps for the methodology.
Plenary
Extend the class
by conducting
this quiz
together:
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/schools/s
cienceclips/ages
/7_8/magnets_s
prings.shtml
Resources
Materials:
 Paperclips
 Iron filings
 Materials:
paper, tin
foil, fabric,
thin wood,
water in a
beaker etc..
 A ruler
It should help
them decide
Extension
which materials
materials:
are attracted to
 Permanent
magnets.
magnets.
Before selecting
 Iron nails.
an object ask
the chn if their
questions would
work to find out
if the material
can be
magnetised.
Extension:
chn can make a magnet by
stroking an existing magnet
from one end of an unmagnetised iron bar, nail or
needle to the other
repeatedly in the same
direction.
2
Date
L.O.
To investigate the
properties of a magnet.
Success Criteria
Must:
I can explain the
difference between a
contact and a noncontact force.
Lesson 3
Should:
I can plan comparative
and fair tests, and collect
accurate results.
Could:
I can use the results of
my tests to explain some
properties of magnets.
Whole class work
http://www.playbackschools.org.uk/programm
e/2907/dance-moving-like-magnets
Present chn with pairs of magnets. TTYP: How
are they the same and different? Read and
show the statement: “A magnet will attract
any object”. Do you agree? How will you find
out if this is true?
Before conducting the experiment discuss how
to conduct the experiment and the different
roles i.e. Resources, Materials, Investigator,
Recorder.
Independent work
including differentiation
Explain to the children that
they are going to develop
skills in investigating as they
find out more about the
properties of magnets. Use as
many of the investigations
below as needed. Think
carefully about which of your
class groups will carry out
each one. If your class has
come up with something else
they wish to test, enable them
to do so.

TTYP: How will you make the experiment fair?
Why is making an experiment fair important?
Discuss that results cannot be compared if they
have not been gathered in the same way. For
example in a class race would it be fair if
someone started before the other? Would the
final result of the time it took and the distance
be recorded fairly?
Ask chn to make careful observations, present
these in the best way and explain what their
results show.




Are different magnets
equally strong?
Are bigger magnets stronger
than smaller magnets?
Which materials can a
magnetic force pass
through?
How do magnets behave
towards each other?
How far does the magnetic
force spread away from a
magnet?
Plenary
Ask the children
to make a brief
presentation to
the rest of the
class. Encourage
them to explain
what question
was
investigated,
how the test
was done and
what the results
told them about
their question.
Resources
Have the
investigative
questions
displayed.
Worksheet
from pages 3738 in resources
pack for chn to
use to record
their
experiment.
 Bar magnets
of different
sizes and
strengths
 Paperclips
 Iron filings
 Materials:
paper, tin
foil, fabric,
thin wood,
water in a
beaker etc..
 A ruler
Extension: Have a force meter
available so chn can measure
force.
3
Date
L.O.
To make a toy using a
magnet.
Lesson 4
(NB: There is an
alternative make a
compass experiment that
involves stroking a needle
80 times. See the end of
this plan)
Success Criteria
Must:
I can explain how to use
a magnet in our toy
creation.
Should:
I can use scientific
language to explain how
the magnet helped our
toy.
Could:
I can reflect on how to
improve our toy or make
a better toy using a
magnet.
Whole class work
Independent work
including differentiation
In groups of 3 chn to make a snake charmer:









Draw a spiral on your paper plate or circle. Start from the outer edge and
draw to the middle of the plate.
Cut out spiral and decorate to look like a snake.
Cover the outside of your container with construction paper and decorate.
Tie a paper clip to one end of a 12-inch length of fishing line.
Slip the clip on the snake's head and tape the other end of the line to the
bottom of your container.
Make the wand by gluing the magnet to one end of the ruler or stick.
Touch the magnet to the paper clip in the container and draw the snake
upward until the line is taut.
Slowly and carefully raise the ruler another half inch or so. The magnet
should separate from the paper clip, but will still exert a pull on it.
After a few tries, your child will know just how little to move the wand to
make the snake dance.
Plenary
Resources
 paper plate,
or make your
What other
own circle
materials could
with a similar
we use with a
size
magnet to make  markers
a toy?
 oatmeal
container or
any canned
food
container
 construction
paper
 fishing line
 paper clip
 magnet
 glue
 ruler or stick
Once complete chn to leave space in their books for 2 photos to be stuck in, so
should start writing half way down the page. Chn to answer the following
questions:
1. How did the magnet help your toy to move?
2. Can you describe the movement you could see using scientific language?
3. What worked well? What could you improve on?
4
Date
L.O.
To explain what a
magnetic pole does.
Pole: the area of a magnet
where the magnetic force
is strongest.
Lesson 5
Magnetic North: the
direction of the Earth’s
magnetic North pole.
Compass: a device that
aids navigation by pointing
the to Earth’s North and
South poles.
Prediction: what you think
might happen in a
scientific test.
Success Criteria
Must:
I can explain what the
poles of a magnet are
and some of their
properties.
Should:
I can predict what will
happen when like and
unlike poles of a magnet
are brought together.
Could:
I can describe the Earth’s
magnetic field and
explain what it does to
magnets.
Whole class work
Hand out some compasses. With your partner
try to explain how the compass works.
TTYP: What is a magnetic pole? Find out what
chn know first and then return to their
explanation after reviewing the following
information.
The idea that magnets have poles comes from
the observation that if a bar magnet is allowed
to swing on a pivot, it always comes to rest
facing the same direction at a particular point
on the Earth. This is because the magnet is
affected by the Earth’s magnetic field.
The Earth acts as if it is a large bar magnet with
a North and South pole. It is not a bar magnet –
it just acts as if it were.
Use this website to explore further:
Lesson 6
http://www.ducksters.com/science/magnetism
.php
Independent work
including differentiation
Ask the children to label the
poles of a bar magnet N and S
and suspend it from a thread.
Encourage them to
investigate what happens
when the poles of another bar
magnet are brought up close
to the poles of the first
magnet in different ways.
Encourage them to work
scientifically, record what
they predict will happen in
each case and note down
what they observe. Ask them
if they can come up with a
scientific rule that describes
what they see. Ask them to
present their results in a
sensible way. They could
repeat their investigation with
horseshoe or other shaped
magnets to find out if the
same rule applies.
Plenary
Resources
Compasses.
http://www.bbc
.co.uk/bitesize/
ks2/science/phy
sical_processes/
magnets/play/
All pupils should
learn well
String and
cellotape.
Magnets with
blue and red
divisions to
hand from
string.
This simple
scientific fact:
Like magnetic
poles repel
And unlike poles
attract.
Assessment.
5
Background Information for Magnets:
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but produces a force that pulls on only a few other
metals, most notably iron, and attracts or repels other magnets. The name points to the very earliest discovery of magnetic materials in Ancient
Greece: the word ‘magnet’ in Greek meant ‘stone from Magnesia’. These lodestones were naturally magnetised pieces of iron ore that attracted
other pieces of iron.
Magnets can only be made out of the metals iron, cobalt and nickel. The ones used in schools are called permanent magnets and retain their
magnetism for a very long time if carefully looked after.
Permanent magnets come in many different shapes and sizes. Industrial magnets are made by heating a piece of iron to a high temperature and
then hammering it as it cools in a magnetic field. Children can make a magnet by stroking an existing magnet from one end of an un-magnetised iron
bar, nail or needle to the other repeatedly in the same direction.
Two magnets either attract or repel each other depending on how they are positioned. At this stage in the topic it is sufficient to emphasise that two
red or blue ends of a magnet always repel, but a red and a blue end attract. There is no need to mention the idea of poles – that will be discussed in
Unit 3.
How to make a compass:
https://www.tes.co.uk/ARTICLE.aspx?storycode=389925
Sophie Duncan gives directions for making your own compass
The magnetic compass was a Chinese invention dating from around 220bc. At first, the compass was made from lodestone, which, when suspended, aligns itself to the
Earth's magnetic field.
It was the observations of fortune-tellers, who used lodestone in their work, that prompted the discovery that it could be used to determine North.
It was not until 1,000 years later that the lodestone was replaced by a magnetised needle.
It is easy to make a compass from some simple materials: a needle, a magnet (any - even a fridge magnet), a cork and a small container of water.
Cut a small slice off the cork. Alternatively, if you are making a number of compasses, buy a cork tile and cut it into small pieces. Hold the needle by one end and stroke it
with the magnet 80 times - making sure that you only stroke the needle in one direction, not back and forth.
Now attach the needle to the cork disc and place it in the container of water. The container must be large enough not to affect the motion of the needle. The needle will
align itself to the Earth's magnetic field, along the North-South axis. If you move the container, the needle will realign itself.
An even easier way to determine where North is takes slightly longer. Place a stick in the ground outside and mark the end of the shadow early morning and late afternoon.
The first mark is West, and the second East. If you stand with your left foot on the first mark and your right foot on the second, you will be facing North.
Having made a compass, your students could use it to create a treasure map of your school grounds.
Sophie Duncan is project manager for science at the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/science
6