Magnet Unit wrap up and Giveaway

Our magnet unit is finally finished.
The girls were happy to recreate their experiments so you could all see the pictures.

They made dancing bees - Tulip kindly describes how to make them.

Rose made a hungry spider - we used colours on the flies he had to eat but you could easily use numbers or shapes instead to create an extra learning activity.

They measured the force of attraction using a ruler and paperclip - we started at the 5cm mark and slowly moved in until the paperclip jumped to the magnet. (about 2cm distance)

they then decided to see if a stronger magnet would have a stronger force of attraction - following the same process as above but using 2 then 3 magnets (and yes - worked at 2.5cm and 3cm)

The floating butterfly was probably the most finicky activity - basically a butterfly cutout with a paperclip stuck to the back, cotton then tied to the paperclip and sellotaped to the base. The idea it to get the butterfly to float but not attach to the magnet, only Lilly managed this as everyone else's got stuck to the magnet (including mine)

Proving a magnet could work through a solid was the easiest - used a maze printed on card and the magnet underneath to move the object through the maze.

They also decided to see if a magnet would work through a liquid - cup of water and the magnet outside.

Sunflower's favourite was repulsion skating. We used a laminated sheet of paper (to provide a lovely smooth surface) and two magnets. By placing them S to S (or N to N) they repel but if you let one magnet loose and push them together the loose magnet will dance and turn until it connects NS. Sunflower said these reminded her of ice skaters.

Car Repulsion - to measure the distance a like pole will repulse a like pole.
They straped a magnet to the roof of a plastic toy car and laid it alongside a ruler, next they took it in turns to see how far their magnet would push the car (as you can see this did involve some cheating with the girls 'stepping' over the stating line)

The Mag - Lev train was made and researched

The bouncing magnets were Rose's favourite (pencil stuck in Styrofoam with washer magnets like pole to like pole)

and my favourite was the electro magnet. The girls thought I was mad when I popped this tray out and told them we would make it into a magnet because 'Mummy copper doesn't work - it isn't magnetic'

Don't you just love when they have to rethink the world :)
We also discussed how iron will only make a temporary magnet using this method but steel would make a permanent magnet.

Now to get you all stated having magnetic fun I have a little giveaway planned - it's open worldwide so feel free to join in. I will close the giveaway on Fri 7th Oct 20:00 BST and draw a winner using Random.org.

the winner will receive the above set containing: magnet, plastic bead, cotton, paperclips, packet of ion filings, 2 ring/washer magnets, maze and instruction booklet with 7 activities in.

To enter simply follow Homeschool Escapade and leave a comment below and for a 2nd entry like Homeschool Escapade on Facebook and leave a comment below.