Year 3/4A Autumn 1 Science Forces and Magnets – Magnetic Fun and Games

Session 4: Attractive Materials
Science curriculum area: Forces and Magnets / Forces and Magnets:
i. compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials (Yr3)
Working Scientifically / i. gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
ii. reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions
iii. using results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions
Teaching Objectives / ·  To develop scientific method and thinking, using curiosity to generate questions.
·  To answer questions by testing and sorting items using magnets.
Key Vocabulary: magnetic, non-magnetic, attract, attraction, theory, metal, iron, steel
Resources
Your A4 coloured cards of questions on magnetism (generated last session), a tray containing the 12 items shown on the teaching PowerPoint: pencil, pen, elastic band, paperclip, rubber, bulldog clip, stapler, ruler, marble, scissors, pencil sharpener, clothes peg, copies of the guessing game sheet (1 per ch), pencils or pens, coloured sheets of A4 card or paper (to write down any new questions – one per sheet), marker pen, a tray of assorted items made from different materials including lots of metal, e.g. aluminium foil, foil packaging, metal containers, pans, storage tins, safe metal tools, spoons, bearings, metal clips, screws, metal jewellery, paper, card, polythene, fabric, wood, plastic toys, leaves, shells, fir cone – store these items in a couple of large plastic storage boxes so chn can have free access to them; a good selection of different types of magnet, a strong magnet on a string, several bags of coins – see Teachers’ Notes, task sheets copied onto A3 paper (1 per group) – 4 versions are provided – see Teachers’ Notes, camera/ cameras if you want the chn to record their evidence this way (see note below), access to computers for research, and vinegar (possibly needed to clean coins – if shininess is proposed as a reason to be magnetic), PowerPoint presentation and Teachers’ Notes.
Whole class: Before the session read the Teachers’ Notes
Remember last session we began learning all about magnetism to get ready for our task of helping Ms Pullman from P & L Toys to design some exciting new toys and games that use magnetism. You were fantastic scientists because you asked lots of questions about magnets and investigated the answers to them. What questions about magnets did we answer last session? Encourage chn to share the questions they tackled and what they discovered. Praise their scientific skills. You might already be getting some good ideas for some exciting toys on magnetism! Today we are going to learn even more about magnets by investigating some of our other questions. Hopefully one or more of your unanswered questions from last session will be on which materials/ objects are attracted to magnets. Let’s begin to think about which objects are attracted to magnets. Show the Session 4 teaching PowerPoint. Give out the attractive objects guessing game sheet. Follow the instructions on the PowerPoint. When you reach Slide 5, conduct the magnet test as a class activity. At Slide 9 you will have the opportunity to encourage the chn to think of further questions on magnetism. Write each on a sheet of coloured card or paper as before. Slide 10 gives 3 suggested questions which can supplement class questions if needed. Investigating which coins are magnetic is a particularly good one to dispel the misconception that all metal is magnetic. This will provide an extra challenge for Yr 4 chn. It will really get the chn thinking about why some coins are magnetic and others are not. See Teachers’ Notes for advice on this. It’s time to investigate our questions!
Year 3 Divide the chn into mixed ability groups of 3 and allocate each group a question. These questions are probably going to involve testing and sorting different items or materials so a variety of task sheets are provided with a sorting grid. Groups could sort by placing the items themselves on the grid and then photographing their sheet to record their results. Alternatively they could draw and label their sorted items. There is a lot of scope in these questions for further enquiry – i.e. continuing to question Why? Teacher support as needed / Year 4 Divide the chn into mixed ability groups of 3 and allocate each group a question on coins (either the one given or their own). Give out the coin task sheet. Throughout the task of testing and sorting continue to challenge chn with the question Why? and encourage further testing or internet research to seek answers
Teacher support as needed
Plenary / Encourage all the groups that worked on each question to collectively report back to the class on their findings, sharing and summarising what they learnt. If their investigation led to further research, encourage them to explain their reasoning. Praise all the chn for their outstanding scientific discovery skills.
Outcomes / Children will:
·  Play a guessing game to encourage theories and predictions on which items will be magnetic
·  Turn their theories into questions that can be answered through scientific enquiry
·  Methodically test, classify and sort different items/ materials and thus raise more questions to consider
·  Record findings and report back on them to the class

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