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
D batteries
C batteries
Thick gauge roll of electrical wire
Thin gauge roll of electrical wire
Nails
Electrical tape
Rubber bands
Scissors
Paper clips (both large and small)
Copies of the Fiction in the Facts cards (a set for each group)
Notebooks or paper for each student
Engage
Pass out copies of the Exclaim and Question worksheet or have students get out a piece of paper, divide the paper in half, and label one half Exclaim and the other half Question. This is the Exclaim and Question K20 strategy.
Go to slide 3 in the Making Magneto Teacher Slides. 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.
Explore
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 4, 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 and that even the most basic stuff is important to write down.
Explain
Show slide 5 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, and then:
Sort the claims into two stacks--a stack of claims that they can prove or disprove based on their observations from their Exclaim and Question sheet and a stack of claims that they can't prove or disprove yet.
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
Show slide 6. 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
Show slide 7. Tell students that they will write Claim Evidence Reasoning (CER) statements explaining what they think is happening in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP2C6M7tDhM.
Show slide 8. 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 of 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 aluminuim 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/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506fc09
K20 Center. (n.d.). Exclaim and Question. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/a89b55a468ff764491d10ec5b201cc3d
K20 Center. (n.d.). Fiction in the Facts. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/6f19b778b73e4c339d1a7d9653000991