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MAGNET MADNESS
A Facilitator’s Guide to Magnetism
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©2002 Let’s Talk Science
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A. Description of Workshop
Overview of Workshop
Grade for Workshop/
Appropriate Age
This activity is
designed for use in
Grade JK-3 classrooms
or with children ages
4-9.
Science Topics
 Magnetism
 Forces
Through hands-on learning centres the
students will determine which things
are attracted to magnets and which
are not. Explore magnetic attraction
and repulsion. (Discover the force
field around magnets; Grade 2 and 3
students will create a magnet and
make their own compass) or (Students
will discover the force field around
magnets and make their own
compasses).
Overall Objectives
 To introduce magnets and
where we can find them.
 To learn that a magnet has
a north pole and a south
pole and the rule about
attraction.
 To introduce the domain
theory.
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B. How to Run This Workshop
Physical Requirements
You will need 3-4 stations set-up around the classroom.
Materials and Set-Up
Note: For more detail, see Kit List
There are many choices for materials in this workshop. The materials listed
below are just suggestions – substitutions and/or omissions are fine.
Introduction
Activity #1 – Testing
Station
Activity #2 – Fish and
Turtle Station
Ring magnets and
pencil
Magnets –
horseshoe, bar
Odd-shaped
magnets
Non-magnets
Cow magnet
Magnet wands – 1 per child
or ring magnets
Cups
FISH
Chalk-like magnet
Compass
Lodestone
Not a Magnet
Sheet – domains
Domains of a
Magnet Sheet
Styrofoam
Balloons
Ball bearings
Brass hooks or brass rings
*Construction paper (cut in ¼
pieces)
Fish tracer (made of
cardboard)
Pencils
Fishing rod (pencil with fold
back clips and a magnet)
*Paper clips
Scissors
Crayons or markers
TURTLES
Aluminum foil
*Turtle cut-outs
Steel screws
Pennies
*Work Sheet for testing
Pencils
Scissors
Needles or paper clips
Magnet wands or ring magnets
*Scotch tape
Crayons or markers
Container with water
Compass
Paper clips
Corks
Nails
Paper clips
*Consumable items
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Activity #3 –
Strength Station
Aluminum foil
Cardboard
Glass jar
Metal lid
Paper
Styrofoam
Wood
Ring magnets – 1 or 2
per student
Cow magnet
Magnetic wands
Bucket of washers
Pencils
*Work Sheets for
strength testing
Activity #4 – Mystery
Powder Station
Iron filings in containers
(bottle, small cases and in
mineral oil)
Various magnets (ring, bar,
magnetic wands…)
Paper clips
Magnetic chips
Activity #5 – Discovery
Station
Magnetic marbles
Magnetic chips
Various magnets (ring, bar,
magnetic wands..)
Magnet toys
Floating magnets
Pencils
*Consumable items
Timing of Activity
Part of Workshop:
General Introduction
Introduction to Topic
Activity #1
Activity #2
Activity #3
Activity #4
Activity #5
Wrap-Up
Suggested Timing:
5 min.
30 min.
10 min.
10 min.
10 min.
10 min.
10 min.
5 min.
Cumulative Timing:
5 min.
35 min.
45 min.
55 min.
65 min. (OPTIONAL)
75 min. (OPTIONAL)
85 min. (OPTIONAL)
90 min.
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C. Introduction to Topic
Objectives of Introduction




To
To
To
To
introduce what a magnet is.
explain that magnets have poles.
explain the rule about magnets (opposite poles attract).
describe domains and their positions.
Suggested Discussion, Q & A
Who has magnets at home?
Where are they?
Refrigerator, toys
What do you use them for?
Playing, putting things up, keeping doors closed (cupboards and fridge)
Can you think of anywhere else in your house you can find magnets?
Television, telephone, VCR, stereo
Magnets are very important to us and we use them in many places in our
homes.
Do magnets stick to things like glue would?
No, magnets are attracted to things.
(Hold up an odd shaped magnet.)
Is this a magnet?
Yes or No.
One way to find out is to do an experiment. Let’s test it.
Repeat with magnets and other steel objects that are not magnets. Keep
going until students catch on to the fact that we only know if an object is a
magnet by testing it, doing an experiment. If you like have volunteers come
up to test the objects.
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(Set-up two ring magnets so that they repel each other and they seem to be
floating on a pencil)
Present the students with a problem –
I have two magnets that won’t stick together – can anyone come up and help
me stick them together? (you can pretend to press really hard on them so
that they might stick together this way)
(Have a few students come up to the front and try and stick them together,
until someone figures it out!)
What did he/she do to stick the magnets together?
They turned one magnet over.
Why do they stick now?
There are two sides on a magnet, they are called the North pole and
the South pole.
The rule about magnets is that only N and S like each other – Opposites
attract!
(Have everyone repeat the rule and ensure they understand the concept of
opposites by asking:)
What is the opposite of up? DOWN
What is the opposite of fast? SLOW
What is the opposite of North? SOUTH
(Have students hold their hands out and pretend that their hands are the
poles of a magnet.)
If my right hand is a North pole and my left hand is a South pole, what would
happen?
They would stick together (attract) – clap hands together.
If my right hand is a north pole and my left hand is another north pole, what
would happen now?
They would stay away from each other (repel) – hands won’t come
together.
(Keep giving them combinations of North and South poles to test their
knowledge of this rule.)
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Now, if magnets have a North pole and a South pole, what is the biggest
magnet in the whole wide world?
THE EARTH! It has a North pole and a South pole! The core of the
Earth is made of lodestone (mostly iron) – show Sample of
lodestone/magnetite.
Does anyone know what a compass is? What does a compass do?
A compass shows us which direction is North. The needle of a compass
is attracted to the Earth’s magnetic pull.
Magnets have a force that we can’t see that attracts or repels certain
things (pulls them towards, or pushes them away) and does nothing to other
things. To see what that force can do we use iron filings.
(Hold a magnet wand against a clear container filled with iron filings)
Do you see the magnetic field?
YES!
When you play with the magnets today, be careful not to drop them!
D. Activities
CHOICE: Everyone should do Activity #1 and Activity
#2 (either Fish or Turtles). The other activities are
choices. You should do at least 3 activities, 4 is
optional. You can also combine activities together.
CHOICE: You can set these activities up in stations
or do them as a large group.
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ACTIVITY #1: TESTING STATION (10 min.)
Work Sheet:
JK-Gr. 1 – Magnet Experiment Data Sheet #1 (8 boxes)
Gr. 2-3 – Magnet Experiment Data Sheet #2 (10 rows)
Objective of Activity
 To find out what magnets like and what magnets don’t like.
Suggested Instructions, Q & A
At this station, you will take a magnetic wand or ring magnet and dip it into
the cups full of certain materials, and see if they stick to the magnet or not.
If you are using Magnet Experiment Data Sheet #1:
Record your results by circling the pictures that the magnets stick to. If
the magnet sticks, circle the picture, if the magnet doesn’t stick, don’t circle
the picture. (or colour, or write YES/NO….)
If you are using Magnet Experiment Data Sheet #2 – explain what a
prediction is. Record your results in the Test column by circling Yes or No
(Yes if your magnet sticks, No is it doesn’t stick.)
ACTIVITY #2: FISH AND TURTLE STATION (10 min.)
Work Sheet:
FISH: no work sheet, construction paper with fish tracer
TURTLE: Make a compass, single turtles to cut out
Objective of Activity
 FISH – to use a magnet to pick up an object with metal attached to it.
 TURTLE - to demonstrate how a compass works
- to demonstrate how to make a metal object magnetic.
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Suggested Instructions, Q & A
FISH
Everyone will trace a fish onto a piece of construction paper and cut it out.
Put your name on the fish and decorate it. Attach a paper clip to the mouth
of the fish.
Throw your fish into the pond (onto the floor/carpet).
Take your fishing rod (pencil with a string and a fold-back clip on the end
with a broken magnet) and try and catch your fish!
TURTLE
Cut out your turtle.
DELIVERY HINT: Have students colour their turtle
front and back with wax crayon (to make it waterproof).
Take a needle (or paper clip) and stroke it with a magnet at least 50 times in
the same direction.
Try and pick up a paper clip. If your magnet (the needle) seems weak, stroke
it another 50 times, until it picks up the paper clip.
DELIVERY HINT: If the needle still doesn’t pick up the paper clip,
have students try holding the other end of the needle.
Tape the needle (or paper clip) to the underside of the turtle. Float your
turtle in the dish of water. Pay close attention to which way the head of the
turtle points (North or South).
If the turtles are made with paper clips, the students can keep them.
If they are made with needles, take the needles off and then they can
keep the turtle if they want.
CHOICE: Give the teacher copies of the “Make a Compass”
sheets for the students to take home and make later.
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ACTIVITY #3: STRENGTH STATION – What can magnets
work through? (10 min.)
Use Magnetic Strength Work Sheet
Objective of Activity
 To demonstrate how strong magnets can be.
Suggested Instructions, Q & A
Put a variety of materials (aluminum foil, cardboard, glass jar, metal lid,
paper, Styrofoam, wood….) out for students to test. Have two ring magnets
for every child to test the materials with, or one ring magnet and a
washer/paper clip. Put one magnet on the top of the material, and then put
the other magnet/washer on the bottom. Are the magnets still attracted to
each other or is the magnet attracted to the washer? If they are, circle
YES. If they aren’t, circle NO.
Have a bucket of metal washers. Have the students test cow magnets, ring
magnets and a magnetic wand to see how many washers each of these
magnets can hold. Try lining up the washers one by one and not just sticking
the magnet in the container to see how many bunch up.
ACTIVITY #4: MYSTERY POWDER (10 min.)
No Work Sheet
Objective of Activity
 To demonstrate magnetic fields through iron filings.
Suggested Instructions, Q & A
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Set out containers of iron filings with various magnets and have students
place the magnets against the containers and move them around to see the
magnetic fields. Have the students try and guess what this mystery powder
is. If they think it is a magnet powder, ask them how we tested to see if an
object was a magnet in the introduction of the workshop. We had to test it!
Have them test the powder the same way.
If the powder doesn’t stick to the blackboard, ask them what else it could
be? (sand, dirt…)
ACTIVITY #5: DISCOVERY STATION (10 min.)
No Work Sheet
Objective of Activity
 To allow students time to feel attraction and repulsion with different
magnets.
Suggested Instructions, Q & A
Put out a variety of materials for the students to play with (magnetic
marbles, magnetic chips, magnetic wands, ring magnets, pencils/dowels, any
toys…).
E. Wrap-Up
(Go over what students learned at each activity.)
What do magnets like?
Metal
Did your magnet stick to the penny?
No
Is the penny made of metal?
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Yes, copper.
How can you tell if something is a magnet?
Test it!
So, do magnets stick to all metals?
No, they also didn’t stick to the aluminum or brass. Magnets are most
attracted to iron, cobalt and nickel.
(Go over the rule about magnets – opposite poles attract, like poles repel.)
(If you have extra time to fill – you can play this game)
Magnet Domain Role Play Game
Is every object a magnet?
No, only some objects are magnetic.
Inside a magnet there are tiny magnetic regions called domains. All of these
domains face the same direction.
(Hold up the Domains of a Magnet sheet – or draw something similar on
board.)
As you can see on this picture of a magnet, all of the domains face the same
direction. You can see that all of the red circles are facing one side of the
page and all of the blue circles are facing the other side of the page. In
every magnet there are domains, which line up in the same direction.
(Hold up the Not a Magnet sheet.)
This picture shows an object that is not a magnet. Can you see how each of
the red and blue circles are facing different directions? The domains are
not facing the same direction as they did on the magnet sheet.
Let’s try to become a magnet. Everybody stand up!
We are all going to imagine now that we are the domains – the circles and
lines we saw on the pictures.
Your head is the red circle and you feet are the blue circle.
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OK, everyone jump on one foot. Turn around three times. Smile as big a
possible. Now carefully lie down on the floor/carpet.
(Once everyone is settled and lying down ask them to lift their heads.)
Is everyone facing the same direction?
No!
So are we a magnet now or not? Are all the domains facing the same
direction?
We are not a magnet. Our heads are facing different directions.
Let’s try this again. Jump on one foot. Turn around three times. Smile as
big as possible. Now everyone carefully lie down with your head facing (pick
a point in the room – the door, the blackboard, the facilitator, the wall…).
(Once everyone is settled and lying down ask them to lift their heads.)
Is everyone facing the same direction?
Yes. So we are now a magnet. Our heads are like those red circles
and just like in the picture, all of our domains are facing the same
direction!
(Have them regroup and review the pictures. Remind them when they were a
magnet and when they were not.)
Has anyone ever dropped a magnet before? What happens?
It is not magnetic anymore.
It is not magnetic anymore because the domains have moved around and no
longer face the same direction. In a dropped magnet the domains face all
directions, just like you did the first time you were lying on the ground.
When you play with the magnets today, be careful not to drop them!
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F. Glossary
Alloy
A mixture of two or more elements (usually metals).
Compass
A small magnet (needle) pivoted at its central point that aligns itself so that
its North-seeking end points to the Earth’s magnetic North pole.
Cow Magnet
A large magnet shaped like a pill so that it can be given to a cow to swallow.
If the cow has eaten any nails, screws…., it will attract these so it won’t hurt
the cow’s stomach.
Domains
Regions in a magnet which, according to the domain theory of magnetism, are
made up of many tiny molecular magnets called dipoles.
Electromagnet
A temporary magnet produced by an electric field.
Ferromagnetic
A material which can be magnetized strongly, such as iron, cobalt and nickel
and their alloys.
Magnetite
A black mineral form of iron oxide crystallizing in the cubic system. It is
strongly magnetic and some varieties, known as lodestone, are natural
magnets; these were used as compasses in the ancient world.
Magnetic Field
A field of force that exists around a magnet or a current-carrying
conductor.
Magnetic Force
A force between two moving charges. These moving charges can be electric
currents or electrons moving around the nucleus.
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Magnetic North
The Earth has a magnetic field which acts as though there were a giant bar
magnet in its centre, lined up approximately between its geographic North
and South poles, although the angle is constantly changing. The needle of a
compass points towards a point called Magnetic North.
North Pole (or North-seeking Pole)
A north pole is the end of a magnet which when suspended freely points to
the north (magnetic north).
Pole
A point in a magnet at which its magnetic force appears to be concentrated.
South Pole (or South-seeking Pole)
A south pole is the end of a magnet which when suspended freely points to
the south.
G. Background Information
Magnetism
Magnetic forces are created by the movement of charged particles like
electrons (intimately related to electricity). The greatest evidence of
magnetism is the attractive or repulsive force observed to act on iron,
cobalt and nickel. Similar, more subtle, effects of magnetism are found in all
matter and these have provided important clues to the structure of matter
at the atomic level.
Law of Magnetism
This states that like poles of two magnets (two north poles or two south
poles) repel one another, and unlike poles attract one another.
Magnetic Domains
These are tiny magnetic regions found in magnetic substances such as iron.
When all of the domains are facing the same direction (parallel alignment)
we have what we know as a typical magnet. If the magnet is dropped or
heated, the domains will be knocked around into a random array and the
substance will no longer be a magnet.
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We can line the domains up by stroking a substance with a strong magnet or
passing an electric current through the substance.



NOT A MAGNET



MAGNET
(represents a domain)
Applications
The electromagnet is the basis of electric motors and the transformer.
New magnetic materials are important in computers, which have a series of
magnetic regions that make up their memory. Memories are created using
bubble domains in garnets. These domains are actually tiny regions of
magnetization that are either parallel or anti-parallel to the overall
magnetization of the substance. Bubble direction is the key and will indicate
either a one or a zero, representing the units of the binary code used in
computers. Magnetic materials are used in tapes, disks and other media on
which data is stored.
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H. Suggested Resources
Websites
Cool Experiments with Magnets
www.execpc.com/~rhoadley/magindex.htm
Books
Ardley, Neil. (1991). The Science Book of Magnets.
Canada: Doubleday Canada Ltd.
ISBN: 0-385-25322-2
VanCleave, Janice. (1991). Janice VanCleave’s Physics for Every Kid.
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
ISBN: 0-471-52505-7
Levenson, Elaine. (1994). Teaching Children about Physical Science.
U.S.A.: TAB Books.
ISBN: 0-07-037619-0
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