Summary
Electromagnets provide a great example of science in its most abstract form. In this lesson, students observe the physical phenomena of simple electromagnets and engage in an inquiry-style investigation to look into the properties of electromagnets. This lesson will be more challenging, though not impossible, if students don't know the basic properties of electricity. In this case, the lesson will simply take more time.
Essential Question(s)
How can unseen forces affect us?
Snapshot
Engage
Students watch a video about an electromagnet.
Explore
Students make a magnet like the one shown in the video.
Explain
Students apply what they've learned to sort out fictional and factual claim statements.
Extend
Students test one of the unsubstantiated claim statements from the Explain activity.
Evaluate
Students write a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) analysis based on their results from the Extend experiment.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Fiction in the Facts cards (attached; one per group)
Exclaim and Question worksheet (attached; one per student)
Batteries (C & D)
Electrical Wire (thick & thin; bare copper (solid) is preferred)
Nails
Electrical tape
Rubber bands
Scissors
Paper clips (small & large)
Preparation
Print and cut the attached Fiction in the Facts Cards. Group each set of cards with a paper clip or a Ziploc bag. Consider printing the cards on cardstock to reuse the cards multiple times.
Engage
15 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to facilitate this lesson. Use slide 2 to introduce the lesson title to the students. Move to slide 3 and introduce students to the Exclaim and Question strategy. Pass out copies of the Exclaim and Question worksheet.
Transition to slide 4 and play the video of aluminum melting inside an electromagnet. While the video is playing, have students write down all of their observations in the Exclaim column and anything they are surprised by or don't understand on the Question column. Pause the video at any point and help students to articulate the observations that they noticed but didn’t write down. Display slides 5–6 to go over the essential question and lesson objectives.
Explore
25 Minute(s)
Have students keep their Exclaim and Question paper for the rest of the lesson. They will actively use it during each of the phases and corresponding activities to document all observations and surprises.
Assign students to pairs or groups of three. Show slide 7, which illustrates the steps to make a magnet. Allow students time to make the electromagnet. Frequently remind them to jot down observations along the way.
Explain
25 Minute(s)
Show slide 8 and pass out a set of Fiction in the Facts Cards to each group of students.
Students should read through the claims from the cards. Ask them to sort the claims into two stacks—a stack of claims that they have evidence for and a stack of claims that they don’t.
Display slide 9. Of the claims that they can prove or disprove, have them write each claim on their Exclaim and Question sheets where they have the evidence to support or refute that claim. If they decide that the claim is false, they should note that when they write down the claim. Read through the claims that they have left to prove and make predictions of whether they think each claim will be true or false.
Extend
30 Minute(s)
Show slide 10. Based on the claims that they have left, tell the students that they are going to run experiment trials to determine if the claims are fact or fiction. Tell students where to find the supplies and remind them to take down lots of observations on their Exclaim and Question sheet.
Evaluate
15 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 11 and introduce students to the Claim Evidence Reasoning instructional strategy. Tell students that they will write Claim Evidence Reasoning (CER) statements explaining what they think is happening in the video.
Show slide 12. Explain that CER statements should describe:
The claim that the student is asserting (a statement explaining what the student is seeing).
The evidence that the student is using to support the claim (which is hopefully coming from the notes students have been taking the entire lesson).
The reasoning behind why the student can rely on the evidence. Thus, why the claim should be accepted as true. (This could be a critique of the student's experimental procedures—Where does the evidence come from?)
Have students share their CER statements and write down one another's claims so that everyone has all the claims when they are done.
Resources
bosswaw (boss8O8). HQ melting aluminum w/ electromagnetic cylinder HQ (video file). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUiCh1OTLts
gmonkey3. Scrap metal unloaded by magnet (video file). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP2C6M7tDhM
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/156
K20 Center. (n.d.). Exclaim and Question. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/94
K20 Center. (n.d.). Fiction in the Facts. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/60