BIG IDEA

Electricity and magnetism are part of a single force that has many useful applications such as conversion to heat, motion, and sound.

Guiding Questions

1. How do we know an object has static electricity?

2. In what ways are magnets similar to electrically charged objects?

The park ranger again was amazed to know how much you learned about the relationship of electricity and magnets. He mentioned if we could look into something funny that happened to him the other day. He said he was pack up some things at the camp and was pushing around some plastic bags that were on the floor. When he lifted one of them he noticed several pieces of paper attached to the bag and to a plastic apron he had on. He checked for a magnet inside the bag, and found none, he did not find any source (D-cell) or wire inside either. The pieces of paper were clinging to the bag and his apron until he took them off and they made a crackling sound. He would like to know more why this happened and how it relates to magnets and electricity. We will have to investigate with some plastics he sent us.

What is the problem that needs to be investigated here?

THINK AND TALK ABOUT… What did the park ranger notice

about the plastics? What was the ranger doing with

the plastic? What did the ranger check for inside the bag?

FOCUS QUESTION Write a question in your notebook that

is related to the scenario and can be investigated.

Your question should be correctly written; capital letter and ending punctuation.

Your question should not be able to be answered with a yes or no.

You do not need to have the same question as your group.

Class Focus QuestionHow does a plastic bag attract paper?

PredictionIf think if

we_______________________________________________________then

_____________________________________________________________________

because______________________________________________________________

Be prepared to share your thinking. As people share, decide if you agree or disagree with their thinking and why.

How will you record your observations? What materials are you testing? What are you going to observe when you

test the plastic and the paper? How many times do you want to test the

materials to be sure of your result?

ITEMS TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2Attracts paper

Did not attract paper

Attracts paper

Did not attract paper

Grocery bag

Sandwich bag

Balloon

Additional Resources:

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/magnetism.htm

Read and discuss pages 10-11. Make sure you are focused on understanding negatively charged objects and positively charged objects.

Think about previous experiences you’ve had with static electricity.

Making Meaning Conference

• Let’s analyze the similarities between static electricity and magnets.

• What claim can we make about plastics and paper?

• What does the data tell us about how static electricity works?

Claims and EvidenceI claim that…

I know that….I claim this because…I know this because….

Claims and evidence statements using the guiding questions

I claim we know if an object has static electricity if ___________________________

_________________________. I know this because __________________________

_____________________________________________________________________.

Example for #1

1. How do we know an object has static electricity?

2. In what ways are magnets similar to electrically charged objects?

Conclusion

Today I learned__________________________________________

My thinking has changed since I made my original prediction. I used to think ________________________________________________________,

but now I know ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

ReflectionI wonder what would happen if…

I’d like to know more about…