Big Idea Electricity and magnetism are part of a single force that has many useful applications such as conversion to heat, motion, and sound.

Guiding Questions

Congratulations! Your help with the group made it possible for them to leave the cave and return home safely. Today, I have another challenge for you. The group brought back several old items they found in the cave and gave them to our class for this investigation. Two of the items are a magnet and a compass. The park ranger from the area told me that these two items have a common property that allows them to be used for the same purpose. He wants us to investigate this. What do we have to investigate? What are we looking for in our investigation?

Think and talk about… What previous knowledge to you have about these objects? What are these two objects used for? What is a property? Do they look or work similarly? What are some things both objects could do?

Focus Question Write a question in your notebook that is related to the scenario and can be investigated. Your question should be correctly written; capital letter and ending punctuation. Your question should not be able to be answered with a yes or no. You do not need to have the same question as your group.

Class Focus Question What properties do a compass and a magnet have in common?

Magnet properties Sort your objects into two piles and record in your notebook what you think which items will be attracted to magnets and which ones won’t be attracted. AttractedNot attracted

Prediction If an item is made of ________________then it will stick to a magnet because______________________________________________________________ Be prepared to share your thinking – you must have some reason why you think certain materials are attracted to a magnet.

Pile of items that will stick to magnet/will be attracted Pile of items that do not stick or attract to a magnet ItemYesNoItemYesNo Pile of items that will stick to magnet/will be attracted Pile of items that do not stick or attract to a magnet ItemYesNoItemYesNo Chart #1

Thinking back to our focus question – what steps should we take next? “We should see if the items also stick to the compass.”

Pile of items that will stick to the compass/will be attracted ItemYesNo Chart #2 Compass Drawing

The park ranger has informed me that by hanging a magnet tied to a string we could find a common property with the compass. He sent me a different shaped magnet to investigate this. What direction (north, south, east, west) do you think a magnet points to when it is hanging from a string? Discuss this with your group.

Prediction #2 I think that if a bar magnet is hanging from a string it will point toward the ____________________ because __________________ _______________________________________________________. Be prepared to share your thinking – you must have some reason why think the magnet will point a certain direction.

MATERIALS: A bar magnet tied to a string, ruler, 4 pieces of tape. First: you will tie the other end of the string to one end of the ruler. Second: tape the end of the ruler to your desk so that the magnet hangs in the air, and make sure it is not close to any metal. (iron or steel) NOTE: You need to let the magnet be still on the string before you check where it is pointing to. Check with your compass where North is to verify where the magnet should point to. DO NOT PLACE THE MAGNET NEXT TO THE COMPASS. Instructions for hanging the bar magnet.

The park ranger called me today about another property of a magnet we have to keep in mind. He told me to show you. First, I am going to take the end of the bar magnet that has the letter N and place it next to another magnet at its S end. What do you think will happen? Discuss with your group and be ready to share.

Prediction #3 I think if we place the N end of a magnet against the S end of another magnet then the magnets will ____________________ because ____ ________________________________________________________. Be prepared to share your thinking – you must have some reason why you believe magnets will attract or repel each other.

What happens? How do you know? Record this data in your notebooks as an observation.

Now I’m going to join the N side of one magnet with the S side of another magnet. What do you think will happen? Discuss this with your group. or

Prediction #4 I think that if we place the N side of a magnet against the N side of another magnet, the magnets will____________________ because ________________________________________________________. Be prepared to share your thinking – you must have some reason why think the magnet will point a certain direction.

What happens? How do you know? Record this data in your notebooks as an observation.

Making Meaning Conference What does the data tell us about the items that stick to a magnet? Based on the evidence, how can two magnets attract each other? Let’s analyze the common properties between a compass and a magnet. What claim is there to make about why the magnet and compass both point north?

Claims and Evidence I claim that… I know that…. I claim this because… I know this because….

Conclusion Today I learned__________________________________________ My thinking has changed since I made my original prediction. I used to think ________________________________________________________, but now I know _______________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________. Reflection I wonder what would happen if… I’d like to know more about…