Hello

This week we would like you to be science boffins and we would like you to learn about magnetic forces.  You don't need to have a magnet to learn about magnetic forces, but it will be fun to conduct your own experiments if you do possess one or more (and I am sure many of you have fridge magnets, so, if your adults give you permission, perhaps you could use some of those if you decide to do the fair test suggested in the 'Investigating Magnetic Strength' video to see which of your fridge magnet has the most magnetic strength or you might even make your own compass by following the instructions on the 'making a compass' video - do send in your photos of carrying out these activities to be added to our Year 3 Website gallery page). 

We will begin our learning by finding out what 'forces' are and then we will look at how forces act on different surfaces by watching the first two Espresso videos on the links below (username: student16910   password: bishop).  

After that, we will use Espresso to achieve the following Year 3 learning objectives by clicking on the third link below (the final Espresso link has been added because it is a useful guide to adults supporting children with this science topic) and there is also a powerpoint, magnetic object scavenger hunt and wordsearch to do if you wish.

TRY AND SPREAD THE VIDEOS AND ACTIVITIES OUT THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, RATHER THAN ALL IN ONE DAY:

Year 3

• Notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance
• Observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others
• Compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials
• Describe magnets as having two poles
• Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing