Kindergarten: Magnets and Materials

Click Kindergarten: Magnets and Materials to access the lesson for the Kindergarten—Force and Motion strand.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate activity. Read through the Advance Preparation, Differentiation Strategy, Content Builder, and Safety Alert sections in the Elaborate portion of the lesson. Follow the directions in Teacher Instruction to work through the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • Which objects on RM 1 are magnetic? Nonmagnetic?
  • What other items have you found that are magnetic or nonmagnetic?
  • Were there more magnetic or nonmagnetic items?


Image of Kindergarten: Magnets and Materials lesson RM 1

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Grade 1: Magnets Push and Pull

Click Grade 1: Magnets Push and Pull to access the lesson for the Grade 1—Force and Motion strand.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate activity. Read through the Teacher Note and Teacher Instruction in the lesson to work through the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • What happened as you moved the paper clip from 10 spaces away to five spaces away?
  • What did you observe as you moved the paper clip closer to the magnet?
  • What did you observe as you moved the paper clip farther away from the magnet?
  • Was one magnet stronger than another?

View the video to review the activity.

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Grade 2: Magnets in Everyday Life

Click Grade 2: Magnets in Everyday Life to access the lesson for the Grade 2—Force and Motion strand.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate activity. Read through the Teacher Note and Teacher Instruction in the lesson to work through the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • What problem could you solve with a magnet?
  • Why do you think a magnet could help accomplish this task?

Remember to keep adding information to the Force and Motion Lesson Summaries page.

Grade 3: Forces at Work

Click Grade 3: Forces at Work to access the lesson for the Grade 3—Force and Motion strand.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate, Part 1 activity. Read through the Teacher Note, Content Builder, and Advance Preparation in the lesson. Follow the directions in Teacher Instruction to do the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • How much force was used to push the box without wheels and axles? With wheels and axles?
  • Which method of pushing was easier?

The spring scale may read 0 newtons used to move the box with wheels and axles. This does not mean that no force is being used. It simply means that so little force is being used that the spring scale is not powerful enough to detect it. You could always add heavier objects to the box to see if that would affect the force measurement.

Why did you repeat the experiment with three trials? Repeating trials improves the reliability of the results. For example, by doing three trials, a scientist can look at his or her results to see if the measurements all look similar. If one measurement is different from the other two, something may have gone wrong.

Did you demonstrate work in this activity? Work was only accomplished if the box ended in a different position from where it began.

View the video to review the activity.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate, Part 2 activity. Read through the Advance Preparation and Content Builder in the lesson. Follow the directions in Teacher Instruction to do the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • How much force was used to raise the water bottle without the pulley? With the pulley?

The amount of force should be the same because you are only changing the direction of the force. If you are measuring a higher amount of force using the pulley, there may be friction in the system between the pulley and the rope.

  • Does it feel easier to pull the bottle straight up or to pull the rope down using the pulley?

It should feel easier to pull down because you have gravity and the advantage of your body weight working in your favor.

View the video to review the activity.

Following the completion of both activities, answer the science notebook entry prompt. Make a note of the differentiation strategies you could use with your students.

Remember to keep adding information to the Force and Motion Lesson Summaries page.

Grade 4: Effects of Force

Click Grade 4: Effects of Force to access the lesson for the Grade 4—Force and Motion strand.

Gather the materials necessary to do the Elaborate activity. Read through the Teacher Note and Differentiation Strategy in the lesson. Follow the directions in the Teacher Instruction section to work through the activity.

Keep the following questions in mind as you work.

  • What question did you choose to test?
  • How did you test your question?
  • Was your hypothesis supported by your data?
  • Did you repeat your experiment? If so, why? What was your conclusion?

After completing the activity, answer the science notebook entry.

Remember to keep adding information to the Force and Motion Lesson Summaries page.