Pupils have started learning about magnets under the
theme of “Interactions”. Over the past few weeks, pupils engaged in a series of
activities such as using the magnet to identify magnetic and non-magnetic
materials, finding out which part of the magnet had the strongest magnetic
force and so on.
The key ideas that were covered so far are:
·
Only magnetic materials are
attracted to a magnet (Pupils have been taught the acronym “CoINS” to help them
remember that magnetic metals – “Cobalt, iron, nickel, steel”.
·
Unlike poles of a magnet attract
while like poles of a magnet repel.
·
The poles of a magnet have the
strongest magnetic force.
Some common
MISCONCEPTIONS that some pupils may have are:
·
“The
magnets stick to each other / Magnetic materials can stick to the magnet” vs
“The magnets attracted each other / Magnetic materials are attracted to the
magnet” – In the first
case, instead of using the term “attract”, pupils use the word “stick” which is
inaccurate.
·
“The
iron bar attracted the magnet” vs “The magnet attracted the iron bar”
– the first sentence is a common error as the the magnet is the one which has
magnetic force and is pulling the iron bar towards itself.
·
“The
magnet did not attract Object A” vs “The magnet repelled Object A”
– these two sentences have two different meanings though some pupils may think
that they mean the same thing. In the first sentence, “Did not attract” could simply mean a lack of interaction
between the magnet and object; while in the second sentence, “repelled”
indicates that there is a pushing force exerted by the magnet on Object A.
Do feel
free to contact me if you have further queries regarding Science / answering
techniques.
Thank you.
Ms Natalie
Chan
