Are you looking for some fun, engaging, and hands-on activities to add to your magnetic force unit? Look no further! I have some awesome ideas to share with you that will help you bring the WOW factor to your classroom when you are teaching about magnetism to your middle school science students.
I’m not going to lie, sometimes this force unit isn’t my favorite. What can I say? I’m a biology gal; however, magnets are super cool! They are used in so many things in our daily life. I mean, the Earth is a giant magnet, come on!
In this post, I will share some WONDER strategies that you can do in the classroom to get your students hype about learning even more about magnets. Second, I share an interactive lesson so that students can dive deep into the vocabulary and important concepts surrounding what magnetic force is. Finally, I share some WIDEN strategies to help your students expand and explore more inside the magnetic field unit and magnetic forces.
Which ideas will you choose for your magnetic force unit?
Magnetic Force Unit Introductory Ideas
I am a true believer in getting student buy-in before officially jumping into a lesson. That’s why I love using WONDER strategies to help students become internally motivated to learn a topic. I talk about three below! You can choose one or do all three!
Magnetic Slime
If you want to do something simple to get students excited about magnets, let them explore magnetic slime!
You can purchase enough for partners or groups (or get a grant – I love Donor’s Choose)!
The slime linked above is neat! You can stretch, tear, and bounce it like other slime and putty, but it’s also magnetic. There is a magnet that comes with it, but you can use other magnets as well.
As with any slime, it could become a mess, but if you are down for it in your class, it’s a fun way to get students excited about learning more about magnets.
Here are some observation questions and guiding questions you can ask students as they explore the magnetic slime:
- How does the magnet influence the structure of the slime?
- What did you notice as you brought the magnet closer to the slime?
- What did you learn about magnets and magnetic forces by exploring the slime?
Magnetic Wands Scavenger Hunt
Another fun activity to help your students become excited about learning more about magnets and magnetic forces is using magnetic wands. I love these so much! I bought them for my children at Christmas one year. They remain on my refrigerator and get used a lot!
You can use these in two different ways!
- Give each group of students a magnetic wand. You can have them walk around the room and create a list of things that are magnetic and things that are not. Once they are finished, you can discuss the results as a class.
- Gather some materials for groups/partners of students. This could include paper clips, washers, pencils, silverware, books, rubber bands, keys, toothpaste, pennies, nickels, etc. Just get a random assortment of objects! Have your students determine which of the objects are magnetic and which ones are not. Discuss the results as a class!
Magnet Exploration Stations
Before diving into the vocabulary and heavier content, you can give students a chance to explore some of the concepts in stations! Here are some ideas!
Iron Filling Observations
You’ll just need a magnet and iron fillings.
You can pre-make this stations for students to observe, or you can have your students do it. However, once it is set up, it can just be set up as an observation station! Ask students to explore what was created when the iron filings were placed on the magnet. What do they see? What do they notice?
Here are some helpful videos for this station:
Exploring Different Magnets
You could also have a station/center set up to explore different types of magnets. At a station, you can provide different types of magnets for your students. You can also give them a variety of magnetic materials (and non-magnetic) to expand their exploration.
Here are some guiding questions:
- What do you notice about how the magnets look? Are there any similarities or differences?
- Can you feel a difference in the strength of the magnets?
- How might the material in a magnet impact its magnetic properties?
- What causes magnetic force?
- Where does magnetic force come from?
Here is a variety pack on Amazon of different types of magnets!
Compass Exploration
Have your students ever used a compass? If not, this is a great time to let them explore! If you have compasses in your classroom, or you want to purchase one.
In this compass station, students can just turn in different directions, try to find which direction their facing, and just explore how it works.
Here are some guiding questions:
- The Earth is a magnet. How does the needle pointing north relate?
- How does the needle respond when changing directions?
Magnetic or Not?
This can be a station too! Students can explore different objects like those listed above (paper clips, washers, pencils, silverware, books, rubber bands, keys, toothpaste, pennies, nickels, etc.). They can use a magnet or magnetic wand to determine what is magnetic and what is not.
Magnets Move
In this station, you’ll need small objects such as paper clips, toys, etc. and a magnet! This station will be all about making objects move and how the magnetic force influences their motion. This will help them understand the concept that the strength of the magnetic forces is dependent on the distance.
Magnetic Tug-of-War
Students explore a lot with magnets in the other stations, but this is another good one (and fun) to explore how magnetic force is dependent on distance. You can take two magnets and place them on opposite ends of the table. Students can move the magnets closer and further apart to explore magnetic strength.
Magnetic Forces Interactive Lesson
I love interactive lessons! They help reduce students’ cognitive load by incorporating the 7 steps to help students retain information! These include things such as helping the most important information stand out and leaving out repetitive and unnecessary information. This also includes keeping things simple and then becoming more challenging. All of these help students remember content better.
They are great as lessons, but they are also great for stations, review, test prep, independent and virtual learning, and so much more!
Students (and teachers) love these because there are interactive activities embedded inside the lesson! These help students to process the segmented information before moving on to the next piece of science content!
Magnetic force explained! This magnetic forces interactive lesson will guide students through learning about maglev trains, what magnetism is, the poles of a magnet, magnetic and geographic poles, magnetic fields, Earth’s magnetic field, and more!
Some of the interactive activities include a KWL, four corners vocabulary, drag-and-drop questions, exploring outside videos, and more!
Skip the magnetic force worksheet and try it out!
Magnetic Forces WIDEN Activities
I love to introduce the content with an engaging strategy, and I like to expand upon student knowledge after the lesson. This takes them beyond the standard, helping students to better understand the standard as well as preparing them for higher grade levels and the real world. If your students’ magnetic force questions haven’t been answered yet, WIDEN activities can help with that! Here are some WIDEN activities to try in your science classroom!
Magnet Applications
Magnets are used in everyday life and have so many applications. You can let your students work in partners or in groups to explore these things!
Some of these things include:
- medical equipment
- computers
- in the home
- toys and games
- transportation
- clothing and jewelry
- Give each partner/group (or even individual) a magnet use application to research.
- Have students research specific real-word examples of the use of magnets, advantages and disadvantages, and unique characteristics. You can, of course, add more.
- After students have collected their research, it’s time for them to create a presentation! They can create a slides presentation, a skit, an oral presentation, a poster, a podcast, or whatever presentation format you wish!
- Then, students can present!
How Liquid Impacts Magnetic Force
Another WIDEN activity you can do involves another science experiment! How exactly does liquid impact magnetic force? At this point, students have probably learned that distance plays a big role in magnetic force strength as well as the type of magnet it is. Now, they can explore how liquid comes into play!
You’ll need:
- bar magnet
- a magnetic material, like paperclips
- clear containers
- water
- cooking oil
- honey
You’ll need this for each group if you do groups!
- You will fill each container with a different liquid. One container will have water, one will have cooking oil, etc.
- You need to put the paper clips (or other magnetic material) inside the cups. You want to make sure it’s the same thing in the same cup. This will be a constant in the experiment.
- Slowly place the magnet on the side of the container and move it around. See how the paperclips react to the magnet. Record observations.
- Repeat the same this with the cooking oil and honey and record observations!
Here are some helpful videos for reference!
Magnets and Liquids Science Experiment
Magnetic Maze – STEM Activity
If you are looking for a fun STEM/Engineering activity, this is a great idea.
You’ll need different everyday materials such as cardboard, paper, plates, straws, tape, etc. for students to create their own maze!
This could be done is so many different ways, but here’s the goal: Students must create a maze and then use magnets to see an object though the maze.
Here are some resources to give you some ideas!
How to Create STEM Magnetic Mazes
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