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Magnetic Cards at the Library Pond

Use a student's pond field journal and design-test data to define a simple problem that magnets can solve.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-PS2-4

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
15 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students define a simple design problem that a magnet can help solve.
Students identify goals and limits using observations and test evidence.
Students compare magnetic designs and explain what further tests could show.

How to use

Read the field journal together, then have students use the test data to identify the problem, goals, limits, and best-supported design.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-PS2-4

Define a simple design problem that magnets can solve.

Preview

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Name Date

Magnetic Cards at the Library Pond

Use a field journal to define a magnet design problem.

Read the pond journal

Read the field journal. Use the observations and the graph to answer the questions.

A Field Journal Behind the Library

Ari visits the pond behind the library after school. The library keeps small observation cards at a metal board near the pond. Visitors write the date, draw an animal or plant, and place the cards on the board. The cards have no holes for pushpins.

On Day 1, a breeze lifted two cards from the board. On Day 2, three cards slipped down. On Day 3, the cards stayed in place during calm weather. On Day 4, a stronger breeze scattered four cards onto the path. Ari wrote, “The cards need a way to stay on the board while visitors can still take them down.”

Ari tested materials with a magnet. The magnet pulled a steel washer and a paper clip toward it. It did not pull an aluminum tab, a wooden craft stick, or a plastic button. Ari decided to test card holders that use a magnet and a small steel part.

The library team set these starting requirements: a holder should keep at least 4 of 5 cards on the board during a 20-second fan test, let a visitor remove a card in 5 seconds or less, use one magnet with a small steel part, and make no holes in the cards. The team kept the fan, cards, board, and test time the same for each design. With the Wide tab, a visitor removed a card in 4 seconds. No design made holes in the cards.