Lesson

KSK
Magnetism is an invisible force that attracts
(pulls) or repels (pushes) other objects
(Bennet, 2011). Every magnet has two
poles, a north and south, with a magnetics
field travelling from the north pole to the
south pole and back again. As a result, the
magnetic forces are strongest at the poles
(Bennet, 2011).
Magnets also strongly attracted
ferromagnetic materials such as iron, nickel
and cobalt. Ferromagnetism are magnets
that people are exposed to most on a daily
basis. It is responsible for most magnetic
behaviour encountered in everyday life
(Walding, 2004).

PLoK
The children will explore this scientific
magnet concept by watching a video on
magnet forces. They will also explore this
concept by interacting with magnetic
experiments.

The children explore this in station 4

where they explore the classroom to see
what magnetises and what does not.

Magnetic fields force moving electrically

The children explore magnetic fields
charged particles in a circular or helical path throughout the lesson. However the
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014).
concept is clearly presented to them in
station one when steel wool in placed on
top of a white piece of paper with a
magnet under it.
By rubbing a magnetic material, such as
The children will explore this scientific
iron, with a permanent magnet, that
concept by literally running a magnet
magnetic material temporarily becomes
over an iron nail to make it magnetic,
magnetised. This is a result of the action of and then picking up metallic items.
the rubbing lines up all the atoms in a
particular order (from free roaming to tight)
(Bennet, 2011). The atoms slowly break
away after the magnet is removed, and the
atoms become loose again, resulting in the
eventual loss of magnetism (Bennet, 2011).
A magnet that retains a magnetic field in
absence of either another field or electrical
current is known as a permanent magnet
(Sugimoto, 2011). These magnets are found
naturally as rare-Earth materials (Sugimoto,
2011). The strength of a magnet is
determined by how many unpaired
electrons there are which react when in the
presence of another magnetic field (Bennet,
2011; Sugimoto, 2011).

The children will investigate the

difference between Neodymium
magnets and Cobalt magnets. Through
this exploration, they will discover that
there are permanent magnets and that
different magnets have different
strengths.

Since magnetism is essentially the repulsion

and attraction of loose electrons, humans
can create magnetism by manipulating the
response of these atoms, known as

The children will be giving the necessary

materials to create an electromagnet.
Through this exploration, they will
understand the ability of humans to

electromagnetism (Fujimoto, 2007). This

requires an electrical current to be run
through a certain material, such as copper
or iron, which in turn changes the
behaviour of the atoms to create a
magnetic field (Padgett, 2006; Fujimoto,
2007)
There are many classifications of
magnetism- ferromagnetic, paramagnetic,
and diamagnetic (Kutus, 2012).
Ferromagnetic are strongly attracted by a
magnetic force as their individual atoms
have a slightly higher degree of magnetism
due to their configuration of electrons,
atoms readily line up in the same magnetic
direction and the magnetic domains or
groups of atoms line up (Kutus, 2012).
Paramagnetic materials are weakly
attracted to magnets, such as aluminium
and copper metals (Kutus, 2012).
Diamagnetic materials are induced by a
weak magnetic field in the opposite
direction when exposed to a strong
magnetic field (Kutus, 2012).
Aerodynamics is the branch of physics that
relates to the motion of air, and the
subsequent forces that influence
movement of a solid object through the air
(Benson, 2014A). The forces that affect the
aerodynamics are inclusive but not limited
to mass, shape and size of object, velocity
of motion and inclination of motion
(Benson, 2014B).

manipulate objects in order to create a

magnetic field.

The children explore classifications of

magnetism by being provided with many
types of materials to build their
dartboards. The children use their prior
knowledge and understandings to help
them build a dartboard, which will
attract a magnet.

The children will explore aerodynamics

by investigating the properties of various
materials, and making an assessment of
how well they can be thrown as a dart.
Consequently, they will decide on what
they believe to be the most
aerodynamically sound object, and
create a dart with these materials.