Magic Magnet Analysis

For the original lesson I planned and prepared to be successful, I had to quickly adjust and adapt to unforeseen circumstances that was beyond my control. This lesson should have been the second lesson to a series of lessons pertaining to magnets. However, due to school cancelations and delays because of inclement weather this lesson had to be adjusted to incorporate the complete introductions of magnets to this second grade class. Before delving into this particular lesson, students were introduced to magnets by conducting a scavenger hunt around the classroom to search for items that were magnetic and for items that were not magnetic. Each student was given a magnet to use to explore the room. After the scavenger hunt was concluded,
Students were engaged while conducting the “Magic Magnet” experiments. They were focused on the task at hand and they were excited about learning and manipulating the magnets to make the donut magnet react in a variety of ways as we worked through the four aforementioned experiments discussed in the instructional strategies of the lesson plan. The four experiments included “Follow the Force,” “The Indecisive Magnet,” “The Invisible Dance Partner,” and “The Jitters.” During “Follow the Force,” students were able to move the donut magnets by sliding two bar magnets below the donut magnet without touching them together. Students were surprised that the donut magnet and the bar magnets did not attach to each other. They were excited to see that they could manipulate the movement of the donut magnet by using the bar magnets. At this point students were not familiar with attraction and repelling of magnets. To continue with the experiments, one bar magnet was placed at each side of the triangle base to conduct “The Indecisive Magnet” experiment. After students placed their bar magnets around the base of the triangle, they gave the donut magnet, attached to the yarn, a small push. The donut magnets could not decide which magnet it wanted to be near so it bounced
As students worked in groups to separate the items in their bag into magnetic or not magnetic columns, I circulated the room asking students questions about their reasoning for placing particular items in each section, the similarities of the items in each column, and the differences of the items in each column. During this time, I noticed that one group had formed a new column for items that they were puzzled by. I also noticed that some students were using prior knowledge gained from the scavenger hunt to determine which column to place their items. After allowing ample time for students to make predictions about their items, test their items, and collect the data I began to allow students to make real world connections to magnets by asking students how magnets are used in their everyday lives. Students quickly mentioned how magnets were used in their classroom for the lunch count and how magnets were found on most everyone’s refrigerators in their