Passing Magnetism
Can a magnet attract iron through glass, cardboard or wood?
Objectives:
Students count, collect data and chart comparisons.
Prior Knowledge: Counting to 100, Greater than/less than, charts and just a little about magnets.
Materials:
A good magnet
Paper clips ( have more than your magnet can hold)
Several materials, scraps of almost the same size and thickness:
A wooden ruler or other piece of wood
Cardboard
Coffee Cup - (You can use a glass jar by putting all the clips inside. Put the magnet to the side of the jar so that it attracts the most clips it can hold and slowly pour out the rest. Then count the clips left in the jar.)
Heavy cloth
Floor tile
Procedure:
Start with a new page in the journals. On the first line students write Case A. Put all the paper clips in a pile. Pick up as many clips as possible with the magnet. Dump or scrape them into the count bucket. Students count and record the number on the first line.
On the next line students write ‘wood’. Cover the same magnet with a piece of wood. Dump them into the count bucket, count and record it on the second line.
Cover the same magnet with cardboard, count and record on the next line.
Put the magnet in a coffee cup and try to attract the clips. Record the number on the next line.
Repeat a trial count and recording with a piece of heavy cloth.
Try different materials. Have students name the highest number recorded and the lowest on their journal T-chart. The information on the column of counts is like a graph. Was there a material that didn’t let the magnet pick up any clips at all? Is there a pattern in what we recorded?
The results of the trials could go on a large chart. The students can verbally compare how each material changed the quantity. The uncovered magnet will clearly lift the most and the materials affect the strength to different degrees. Ask them to write down the sentences they say. Ask them to read what they wrote and write a conclusion. Depending on student interest you could ask for a second draft.
Close to centers:
Ask the students to arrange the clips to maximize the number that can be held. Let the students repeat the trials (supervise the glass jar). Relate the experience to others about magnets. Allow the students to test other materials.