Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mother Nature's Funnest Play Things: Magnets

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
In this experiment, students will investigate magnets and how they work. They will understand that two like poles "repel" while opposite poles "attract." They will also observe how a natural force is created by two magnets and answer the...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Properties of Magnets

For Students 10th - 12th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Looks at magnetic materials and the structure and breadth of a magnetic field. The concept of magnetic domains is explained, and how they behave in a magnetic field....
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Magnetic Attraction

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students complete a series of six short investigations involving magnets to learn more about their properties. Students also discuss engineering uses for magnets and brainstorm examples of magnets in use in their everyday lives.
Activity
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Investigating With Magnets: Attraction and Repelling

For Teachers K - 1st
In this fun lab activity, students will learn about the attraction and repulsion of magnets. Students will discover that like poles repel while unlike poles attract.
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Magnetic Fields

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars visualize the magnetic field of a strong permanent magnet using a compass. The activity begins with an analogy to the effect of the Earth's magnetic field on a compass. Students see the connection that the compass simply...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Drawing Magnetic Fields

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students use a compass and a permanent magnet to trace the magnetic field lines produced by the magnet. By positioning the compass in enough spots around the magnet, the overall magnet field will be evident from the collection of arrows...
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Magnet

For Students 9th - 10th
Wikipedia.com provides an excellent introductory site on magnets. Including basic information describing different types of magnets and their characteristics.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Magnets!

For Teachers K - 1st
Learn about magnets, magnetic forces, and how magnets make things move.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Fifth Grade Science: Physical Science: Earth as a Magnet

For Students 5th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Looks at the Earth as a magnet and how Earth's magnetism benefits living things.
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Fun and Interesting Facts About Magnets

For Students 3rd - 5th
Discusses some history of magnets, the science of magnetism, and interesting facts about them.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: How Do Magnets Work?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
During this lesson students will examine magnets and determine that they have two poles (north and south). They will observe which poles attract and which poles repel.
Handout
NASA

Nasa: Magnetic Fields

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from NASA provides a short, illustrated description of the basics of magnetic fields and magnetic poles.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Exploring Magnetism: Investigating the Forces of Magnets

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students describe and create an experiment to prove that like poles of magnets repel each other while opposite poles attract. Using the experiment, they use the data to support the claim that the repelling force is stronger than the...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: The Magnetic Maglev Train

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
This is a hands-on, inquiry-based lesson that includes three magnetic stations in which students or small groups rotate in order to test and discover different magnetic properties and then use their knowledge to build a Maglev Train...
Activity
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Plix: Compass Poles: Earth's Magnetic Field

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A site containing an animation of a compass and a short quiz over the topic.
Unit Plan
E-learning for Kids

E Learning for Kids: Science: Alexandrian Lighthouse: What Are Properties of Magnets?

For Students 3rd - 5th
Learn about the properties of magnets, what metals are attracted to them, what magnetic poles do, and about repulsion and attraction.
Website
NASA

Nasa: Imagine the Universe: Neutron Stars and Pulsars

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover what neutron stars and pulsars are and view pictures of them. Includes links to additional resources and lesson plans.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Magnets

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart helps students differentiate between and identify objects that are attracted by a magnet and those that are not attracted by a magnet.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Earth as a Magnet

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Explains how Earth is a magnet, its geographic and magnetic poles, and its magnetic field.
Unit Plan
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Timeline of Electricity and Magnetism: 600 Bc 1599

For Students 9th - 10th
Find out how humans discovered the magnetic lodestone as well as the attracting properties of amber. Advanced societies, in particular the Chinese and the Europeans, exploited the properties of magnets in compasses, a tool that makes...
Activity
Other

Stanford University: Probing What You Can't See

For Students 9th - 10th
Students will investigate magnetic forces and poles using a refrigerator magnet.
Handout
Learn Engineering

Learn Engineering: Understanding Rotating Magnetic Field & Synchronous Speed

For Students 11th - 12th
Get information about rotating magnetic fields and how electric machines use them for their operation. Discusses synchronous speed and number of poles on an electrical machine. The accompanying article discusses the topics found in the...
Unit Plan
University of New South Wales (Australia)

University of New South Wales: Einstein Light

For Students 9th - 10th
Einstein Light highlights the Theory of Special Relativity and related topics. Learn how Galileo, Maxwell, and Einstein contributed to our knowledge of relativity, electricity, magnetism, and time by watching fun, interactive modules.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Electric and Magnetic Forces and the Modern Day Compass

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about how a compass works using electromagnetic force. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.