Our SK1 students have been so fascinated with magnets since they discovered the magnet tiles in our play area. They created beautiful structures using the magnet tiles, and we could hear them saying, “What if we put a Lego in between the magnets? Would they stick?” “Magnets are like magic wands!” “They have invisible power!” Some students would use their entire playtime building structures using the magnet tiles. So we decided to use their interest in magnets to do a unit study about magnets and forces through science experiments.
At its simplest form, science is basically trial and error based on a best guess known as a hypothesis. Our SK students explored the properties of magnets with a magnetic field sensory bottle. We poured some iron filings into a clear bottle, and we used a strong magnet called neodymium to allow the magnets to work well through the bottle. This allowed students to see cause and effect as they experimented with the power of magnets and magnetic field. The idea of this magnet activity is to allow kids to explore the power of magnets using their own inert sense of wonder and exploration. They were amazed to see the iron on the inside shift and form unique formations as they moved the magnets on the outside of the bottle. The students also used a neodymium magnet to attract the slime that they mixed with iron filings. They had a blast watching the neodymium being swallowed by the magnetic slime.
Our SK students were right! Magnets are like magic wands, and they have an invisible power called a force. They found out that magnetism is the invisible force that allows certain metal objects to be attracted to each other. They learned that these metals are iron, cobalt, and nickel, and we call them ferromagnetic materials. The students predicted that all Canadian coins are magnetic and have ferromagnetic materials, but to our surprise, some Canadian pennies are not magnetic because of their copper content.
For weeks, we explored different magnetic activities, providing students with an opportunity to play with magnets, observe the magnetic force, investigate how they attract or repel, sort magnetic and non-magnetic materials, make predictions, carry out scientific experiments, and draw conclusions. Through these activities, the students were able to identify the poles of magnets based on the forces of attraction and repulsion. They enjoyed doing hands-on activities while learning the three properties of magnets: attractive (attract), repulsive (repel), and directive. They were able to comprehend basic and complex terminology related to magnets with simple illustrations and songs. Understanding novel terms is vital in learning new scientific concepts.
We extended this study with “Magnetic Levitating and Rotating Globe.” One of the students exclaimed that our planet is like a big magnet! And yes, he’s right! Earth is a lot like a magnet! Compasses work by magnetizing the rotating hand so it lines up with the magnetic poles of the planet. Because our planet is like a big magnet, it also has a magnetic field. Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the sun’s radiation. Our young students understood these concepts easily through lots of experiments as you can see in these photos.