Winter Wonderland

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Winter Wonderland MAGNETIZED!
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Introduction/Background Info

• Students will work with magnets to discover the
  magic of magnetic forces.
• Students will design a winter wonderland in a
  plastic cup using magnets to float the twin heart
  charm.

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Topics Objectives

• Force different forces act on an object to
  change its placement in space (hearts float as a
  result of string and gravity balancing out
  magnetic force)
• Charged Particles the presence of charges
  allows magnetic force to exist
• Attraction/Repulsion opposite charges attract
  like charges repel
• Magnetic Properties of Materials materials that
  have free-moving charges tend to have attracting
  (and repellingin next lesson) properties
  materials with charges stuck dont react much to
  magnets
• Free-Body Diagrams formal representation of how
  forces act on objects

• Draw free-body diagrams
• Understand that some materials (metals) are
  attracted to magnets but others arent
• Understand concept that opposite charges attract

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Overview of Lesson Plan
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Survey of Prior Knowledge

• Can anyone give an example of how we use magnets
  in this classroom? How about at home?
• Does anyone know how these magnets work? Does a
  magnet stick to everything? (Briefly explain
  positive and negative charges.)

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Activity

• Intro Activity Give each student a magnet and
  have them go around the room and find 3 things
  that magnets stick to and 3 things that magnets
  dont stick to. Write a list on the board.
•  
• Main Activity
• Winter Wonderland MAGNETIZED! activity.

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Materials

• Per student
• plastic cup
• 1 twin heart
• 1 long piece of thread
• 1 magnet
• Saran Wrap
• some cottonballs

• Per group
• scissors
• tape
• sparkles (for decoration)

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Instructions

• 1. Cut 1 piece of thread double the length of the
  cup from top to bottom.
• 2. Tie a twin heart to one end of the string.
• 3. Poke a hole at the bottom of the cup. String
  the string through that hole.
• 4. Rip out a piece of Saran wrap so that it can
  be folded in half to cover the top of the cup.
• 5. Wrap the Saran wrap around the top of the cup
  such that the magnet sits above the middle of the
  cup.
• 6. Flip the cup upside down and adjust the length
  of the string until the twin hearts are held
  vertically in place by the magnet.
• 7. Tape the end of the string to the bottom of
  the cup.
• 8. Flip the cup right-side up again. The twin
  hearts should now stand up!
•  
• Decoration Ideas
•  1. Pull apart a cotton ball and place cotton on
  the bottom of the cup to mimic snow.
• 2. Decorate the cup with markers and sprinkles as
  you like!

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Follow-up

• Which objects in the winter wonderland attracted
  magnets and which didnt? What would have
  happened if we used plastic hearts?
• What if we used heart magnets? What side would
  attract the magnet and what side would repel it?

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References

• http//www.kids-science-experiments.com/suspendedp
  aperclip.html