Sample Assessment Items
This is not meant to be printed off and given as a test…this document is to give you ideas
of how this standard might be assessed. Please use these as an example when you are
developing your own formative assessments. Remember formative assessment is to be
given throughout the teaching of a standard to help you guide your instruction based on
students needs. A good formative assessment should have a mix of multiple choice as
well as open ended.
S5P3 Students will investigate electricity, magnetism, and their relationship.
d. Compare a bar magnet to an electromagnet.
Multiple Choice:
A device that is made magnetic by an electric current is a(n) ______________.
a. electromagnet
b. generator
c. magnet
d. transformer
Answer: a
A student was testing an electromagnet. She made it from wire, a battery, and a nail.
Which observation can she make about the electromagnet?
a. A permanent magnet has less magnetic force.
b. A permanent magnet provides a stronger magnetic field.
c. Electromagnets are only magnetic when electric current flows.
d. Electromagnets are not magnetic when electric current flows.
Answer: c
Morgan made an electromagnet by wrapping a wire around an iron nail 20 times and
attaching the ends of the wire to a battery. Her magnet picked up 8 paper clips. On her
next trial she used a longer nail and wrapped the wire around 30 times. Her new magnet
picked up 17 paper clips. Morgan concluded that using a longer nail increased the
strength of her electromagnet.
Why is Morgan’s conclusion invalid?
a. She did not display her results on a bar graph.
b. She changed the wrong variable on the second trial.
c. She changed more than one variable in her experiment.
d. She did not write down her conclusion in her notebook.
Answer: c
Which of the following materials are NOT needed to make a simple electromagnet?
a. battery
b. iron nail
c. paper clips
d. insulated wire
Answer: c
Amy is attempting to make an electromagnet to pick up old nails in and around her
driveway. Which of these materials would be best to use for the core in order to make
the strongest electromagnet to pick up the most nails?
a. water
b. iron nail
c. wooden stake
d. plastic tube
Answer: b
Students in Mrs. Bruce's science class were participating in a competition. They were
trying to create and electromagnet that will pick up the MOST paper clips. Nancy
wanted to win the competition so she began by collecting her materials, a D-cell
battery, an iron nail, and a large roll of copper wire. What can Nancy do, using only
these materials, to increase the strength of her electromagnet so she can win the
competition?
a. cut the iron nail in half to use as the core
b. only attach the battery to one end of the nail
c. increase the number of coils of copper he puts around the nail
d. decrease the number of coils of copper wire he puts around the nail
Answer: c
When an electric current is passed through an insulated wire that is coiled around an iron
core, like a nail, what is created?
a. electromagnet
b. natural magnet
c. horseshoe magnet
d. the north pole for a bar magnet
Answer: a
Magnets and electromagnets can both be used to pick up metal items like iron nails.
Even though they are similar, there are differences between magnets and
electromagnets.
An example of one of these differences is that ____________________________.
a. magnets require an electric current to work
b. electromagnets require an electric current to work
c. magnets will stick to your refrigerator, while electromagnets will not
d. electromagnets will stick to your refrigerator, while magnets will not
Answer: b
Open ended:
How are electricity and magnetism connected?