Magnet Madness

What To Do

Activity Prep

• Print all worksheets.
• Ensure that all “fishing poles” for Activity 2: Fish and Turtle are in good working order. 

Introduction

• Introduce magnets and discuss how magnets are used. 
• Hold up an odd shaped magnet. Tell participants that the only way to know if this is a magnet is to test it.
• Test the magnet using a steel object (i.e. washers) or other magnetic material.
• Repeat the process with other magnets and steel objects. Keep going until participants catch on that you need to test an object to know if it is a magnet or not. 
  • Have volunteers come up and test the objects. 
• Set-up two ring magnets so that they repel each other and they seem to be floating on a pencil.
  • Tell participants that you have two magnets that will not stick together. Ask them what you can do to fix this problem. 
    • Have a few participants come up to the front and try to stick them together, until someone figures it out. 
• Explain the poles of a magnet and the opposites attract rule.
• Have participants hold their hands out and pretend that their hands are the poles of a magnet. Give them a variety of combinations of North and South poles to test their understanding of the magnet rule.
• Show them an example of lodestone/magnetite. Explain that the Earth is the biggest magnet.
• Explain how compasses work. 
• Introduce the concept of magnetic force. 
  • Hold a magnet wand against a clear container filled with iron filings to show how the filings will move with the magnet. 
• Remind participants to be careful with magnets at the stations and not drop them.

Activity 1: Testing 

• Dip a magnetic wand or ring magnet into a cup full of materials and see which ones “stick”. 
• Answer the questions on their Magnetic Experiment Data Sheet (version 1 or 2).

Activity 2: Fish and Turtle

Fish

• Trace a fish onto construction paper and cut it out. 
• Decorate the fish and write your name on it.
• Attach a paper clip to the mouth of the fish. 
• Place the fish in the “pond” (the floor).
• Using the “fishing rod”, try to catch the fish. 

Turtle

• Fill a dish with water.
• Colour the front and back of the turtle with wax crayons to make it waterproof. 
• Stroke a needle or paper clip with a magnet at least 50 times in the same direction. 
• Try to pick up a paper clip using the needle. If it does not work or it seems weak, stroke it another 50 times until it picks up the paper clip. 
• Tape the needle or paper clip to the underside of the turtle.
• Place it into the dish of water. Pay close attention to the direction the head floats (North or South).

Activity 3: Strength

• Put one magnet on the top of the material and put the other magnet or washer on the bottom. 
  • “Are the magnets still attracted to each other or is the magnet attracted to the washer?”
•  Experiment to see how many washers each of the magnets can hold. Have a bucket of metal washers and a variety of magnets (cow, ring and wand) to test. 
  • Instead of sticking the magnet into the container, line the washers up and see if that affects how many the magnet will pick up. 

Activity 4: Mystery Powder

• Set out containers of iron filings with various magnets.
• Place the magnets against the containers and move them around to see the magnetic fields.
  • "What is the mystery powder?". 

Activity 5: Discovery

• Experiment with a variety of materials (i.e. magnetic marbles, magnetic clips, magnetic wands, pencils/dowels, various toys).

Wrap-up

• Review the opposites attract rule.
• Discuss possible careers related to the topics covered and what they would need to do (school, experience, etc…) to get into those careers. 

Magnet Domain Role Play Game

• Explain the concept of domains inside a magnet.
• Hold up the Domains of a Magnet sheet (or draw something similar on the classroom board) and explain how the domains orient in the same direction.
• Hold up the Not a Magnet sheet. 
• Have participants stand up. Their head will represent the red circle and their feet will represent the blue circle in the domain sheets. 
• Have participants jump on one foot, turn around three times and lay down on the floor or carpet. 
• Once everyone is settled, ask them if they are a magnet (facing the same direction).
• Have them stand up again, jump on one foot and turn around three times. This time choose to have them lay down with their head facing a point in the room (i.e. the door, blackboard, wall, etc…).
• Once everyone is settled, ask them if they are now a magnet (facing the same direction). 
• Allow participants time to review the pictures. 
• Ask them what would happen when a magnet is dropped.