Nancy Ryan, nryan@branford.k12.ct.us, Mary T. Murphy School, Grade 4, Branford Yvonne Perez, yvonnemaldonado@hotmail.com, Jefferson Magnet, Grade 4, Norwalk Scott Fonicello, sfonicello@branford.k12.ct.us, Mary T. Murphy, Grade 4, Branford Conceptual Theme: IFI Graphic Organizer: Magnetism Energy Transfer and Transformations What is the role of energy in our world? Content Standard: 4.4 Electrical and magnetic energy can be transferred and transformed. Grade Level Concept: Magnets can make objects move without direct contact between the object and the magnet. Grade Level Expectations: 1. Magnets pull on ( attract ) objects made of iron or that have iron in them. Materials can be identified using magnets, and mixtures of materials can be separated using magnets. 3. Magnets can pull (attract) or push (repel) other magnets. 4. The ends of a magnet are called poles. A magnet s poles are often referred to as north and south. When the north pole of one magnet is placed near the north pole of another magnet, they repel each other; when the south pole of one magnet is placed near the south pole of another magnet they repel each other; when the north pole of one magnet is placed near the south pole of another magnet, they attract each other. 5. A magnet s push or pull can cause a magnetic object or another magnet to move without direct contact. The strength of a magnet s attractive force can be measured by recording the number or mass of the objects it attracts or the distance across which it attracts objects. CMT Expected Performances: B 16. Describe the properties of magnets and how they can be used to identify and separate mixtures of solid materials.
Formative Assessment: Your family is cleaning out the basement/junk drawer and you are in charge of sorting the items into two piles. One pile must contain objects that are magnetic and the other pile must contain items that are not magnetic. Name five items that would be placed in each pile. What properties of each item helped you to determine the placement of the items. Select a method to present your findings to your family. Performance Assessment: Using the materials on the table (magnets that are not marked: 4 bar magnets, doughnut magnets, various materials made of iron and some not containing iron), create a train that can pull the greatest amount of washers. You will have to present and explain how you assembled your train. Your presentation must include a demonstration of your train and an explanation of how it works. Be sure to include important vocabulary words from the unit in your explanation. * *Include a word bank for some student differentiation. Formative Assessment Scoring Guide: 4 The student correctly identified all of the items that were magnetic and non magnetic and even added additional, unexpected, or outstanding objects and explanations. 3 The student correctly identified all of the items; there were no mistakes. 2 The student partially identified some of the items correctly with no big mistakes. 1 The student does not identify the items that are magnetic and those that are not magnetic, but gives some information that is related. 0 The student does not do the question or task, or gives an answer that has nothing to do with what was asked. Questions I Want Students to Ask at the End of their Phase 1: Inquiry Starters What materials are attracted to a magnet? What materials would not be attracted to a magnet? Why do two magnets stick together on one side and not on the other side?
How does one magnet push another magnet without touching it? What materials can the pull of a magnet go through? Why do some magnets pull or lift more objects than others? Pre Assessment: Day 1 Distribute pictures of the materials and ask the students to write whether they think the item in their picture is magnetic or not and why. Teacher will have two columns labeled magnetic and not magnetic. Students will place their picture and explanation under the column that they believe is appropriate. Teacher should explain that some their ideas as to what is magnetic and what is not magnetic may need to be adjusted as we learn about magnets. List of Materials for Inquiry Starter: Phase 1 One magnet and an assortment of items: An aluminum nail A steel nail An eraser Aluminum foil A penny Paper clip Brass fastener A key Canadian nickel? A rock Cardboard Inquiry Starter: Day 2 (Time allotted at each station will be determined by the teacher.) STATION 1 While considering a bag of mixed items of various sizes, shapes and compositions, participants will discover which items are magnetic and those that are not. Students will write their noticings and wonderings in their notebooks. STATION 2 Students will mess about with doughnut magnets and bar magnets (number of magnets will depend on the amount of students and the number of magnets available) to explore the interaction of the magnets.
STATION 3 Students will write their noticings and wonderings using a small and large bar magnets, a horseshoe magnet and the doughnut magnet along with a baggie of steel washers. Allow students to mess about with the magnets and washers while recording their noticings and wonderings. STATION 4 Students will mess about with a paper clip, a magnet, and a few materials, (such as a square of cardboard, a piece of paper, a piece of metal, a piece of cloth). Students will record their noticings and wonderings in their notebooks. Day 3 After the students have had time to explore and observe, teacher would have students share out their key noticings to check for understanding of the inquiry starter questions. Decide if questions are investigable and post 2 sentence strips with their questions on them. (Teacher reviews questions and categorizes them for students to read through and choose one to investigate the next day). If needed, teacher will discuss investigable/non-investigable questions with the class and help them turn the questions. Phase 2 Focused Investigations: Day 4 Teacher will categorize the questions and display them. Teacher will present other materials to be used for their investigations. Students will select a question from the categories and form groups of no more than 3. They will use post-its and number their first three choices. Teacher will use this to help form groups, if needed. OR Students will stand near a question of interest and when there are 3 or 4 students at that question, they will take their question to investigate and begin forming a plan. They will use their notebooks to record their plans. Teacher will collect plans and review.
Formative Assessment: Teacher will collect student notebooks to assess them with the Planning and Conducting Investigations Indicators List. (W. Harlen, P. 2000) Day 5 Day 6 Students will get their plans back, revise if necessary and get final ok from teacher. Students will gather materials and conduct their investigation. Teacher will circulate around the room and observe students as they conduct their investigations while taking anecdotal notes. If necessary, teacher will question and guide students through the investigation process. Teacher may need to introduce a Thinking Tool to students at this time. Teacher will introduce non-fiction materials to groups who have completed their investigations and have a written summary statement (Conclusion) based on their investigation. Students will use non-fiction materials to gather evidence to support their findings. Students will also identify and clarify science vocabulary that best describes their investigations and will use that vocabulary in their summary statement. Phase 3: Communicating and Sharing their Understandings Day 7 The teacher will give each student group an opportunity to plan their share out. They will use their science equipment to demonstrate and explain their findings and results. If they need a visual to go with their equipment, they may create one. (chart, table, graph, drawing). Students will practice for their presentations which will be a total of 5 minutes being sure to use the proper science vocabulary appropriate to their investigation. Formative Assessment: Students will write/draw what they have learned about magnets in their notebooks before the share out. Teacher will pass out a template so every student in the class will be able to record the presenting groups results and conclusions. Also may be used as a formative assessment.
Students share out with the whole class and answer questions. Teacher Synthesis (Content Blast): Teacher will synthesize the class learning and give a content blast on magnets. (Accomplished during class presentations or may be pre written by the teacher: Optional) Key Concepts in Content Blast **** Emphasize that magnetic energy can be transferred to objects. Magnets attract objects made of iron or that have iron in them. Magnets can pull (attract) or push (repel) other magnets. The ends of a magnet are called poles. A magnet s poles are often referred to as north and south. When the north pole of one magnet is placed near the north pole of another magnet, they repel each other; when the south pole of one magnet is placed near the south pole of another magnet they repel each other; when the north pole of one magnet is placed near the south pole of another magnet, they attract each other. A magnet s push or pull can cause a magnetic object or another magnet to move without direct contact. The strength of a magnet s force can be measured by recording the number of objects it attracts. The strength of a magnet s force can be measured by the distance across which it attracts objects. Formative Assessment: Students will draw a Line of Learning in their notebook and add to and revise their claims and evidence. They will be encouraged to draw each of the new concepts, and label the parts. Day 8 and 9 Formative Assessment: Share-out Science notebooks Line of Learning Summative Assessment: Performance Assessment Task
Challenge Activities: Students talk with their families and use their imaginations to invent something new that uses magnets. Draw a picture of their invention to share with the class, and write a short paragraph explaining what it does.