T3W3 Science Updates

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