Alicia Eldridge

3/24/14
SciTalks
4th Grade
North and South Poles Magnetism

Instructional Objectives/Student Outcomes
Students will be able to identify the north and south end of a bar magnet. They will also be able
to make their own compass and learn why the needle of the compass points North. They will be
able to distinguish between North and South on their home made compasses. Student will be able
to demonstrate proper handling of materials and use every day material to conduct an experiment
to investigate the natural world and how it works.

WV CSOs
SC.O.4.1.05 recognize that developing solutions to problems requires persistence, flexibility,
open-mindedness, and alertness for the unexpected.
SC.O.4.1.07 use scientific instruments, technology and everyday materials to investigate the
natural world.
SC.O.4.1.08 demonstrate safe and proper techniques for handling, manipulating and caring for
science materials.
SC.0.4.2.20 describe and explain the relationship between a compass and a magnetic field.
SC.0.4.3.01 identify that systems are made of parts that interact with one another.


National Standards
Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions
between two objects not in contact with each other.
Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.
Physical Science: Position and motion of objects, light, heat, electricity, and magnetism,
properties of objects and materials
Earth and Space Science: Properties of earth materials

Management Framework
Overall Time: 1 hour
Timeframe:
5 minutes- Pre-test
10 minutes- Bar magnet and string
30 minutes- Make compasses while watching youtube video on magnets
10 minutes- Discuss compasses
5 minutes- Post- test

Strategies
Pre and Post tests, Teacher/student led discussion, experiment, group work

Differentiated Instructions/Adaptations/Interventions
See Attached

Procedures
I ntroduction/Lesson Set
Students will be given a pre-test containing questions about the north and south poles of a
magnet and how a compass works, and then we will do a teacher/student led discussion to access
their prior knowledge.

Body and Transitions
Teacher will tie a piece of string to the middle of a bar magnet and let it hang in mid air.
Once it stops spinning we will ask the students which way the ends are pointing. (North
and South)
Students will be separated into groups of 4 or 5 students per group
Each student will then make their own compass. By using a bowl of water, circular cork,
and a needle with one end painted the students will take the cork and place it in the bowl
and then put the needle on the cork. Once it stops spinning then students look to see
which end is pointing north.

Closure
We will review as a class what happened in the experiment and then a post-test will be given.
After the post-test, we will discuss the post-test as a class as well.

Assessment
Diagnostic:
Pre-test and teacher/student led discussion on North and South poles and how a compass works.

Formative:
Teachers will walk around the room and work with the groups in case they have any questions.
Teachers observe students as they do their experiments and access their knowledge of the
objectives of the experiment.

Summative:
Post-test and discussion about what the students learned from the experiment.

Materials
Pre-test
Post-test
Pencils
Water
One bowl per group (3)
One piece of cork per group (3)
One bar magnet
One piece of string
One needle per group (3)
Smart Board

Extended Activities
I f student finishes early
Student will experiment with their groups materials.

I f lesson finishes early
We will discuss the experiment and students will be able to experiment with the materials we
have.

I f technology fails
We will just do the experiment with a deeper discussion on magnetism and how it works.

Post-Teaching Reflection

I feel like the lesson started off slow, but once the students got to start to make their own
magnets, they really got into it. I had been working with the students previously to this lesson on
magnets and magnetism, so the students had a lot of prior knowledge of magnets from previous
lessons. They enjoyed watching the compass needle spin in the water until it stopped, and then
they wanted to take turns and do it themselves. The one thing I would change about the lesson
would be to make a type of compass that the students could take home to show their parents.
Overall, the lesson went well, and I thought the students did a great job with listening to
instructions.