MIGHTY MAGNETS!Can any material block the power of a magnet?

Green team 4th Grade Mrs. Johnson Northview Elementary School

STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION

Can glass, plastic, or wood block the power of a magnet to attract metal objects?

PROJECT OVERVIEW• We know that magnets can attract metal

objects. We also know that magnets can harm some electronic equipment. We want to know if glass, plastic, or wood can block the power of magnets from attracting metal objects. It might be useful to know this in order to protect electronic equipment from the effects of magnets.

RESEARCHThe most important ideas from our research were:

-Magnets are certain metals with the ability to attract other metals.

-Most magnets are made from the metals iron, nickel, and cobalt.

-Magnets create a magnetic field around them – an area where their force affects materials around them. This field is stronger at the two ends of the magnet called ‘poles’.

-Because of their ability to move other objects, magnets can damage some electronic devices such as computers.

-Scientists think that while no material can block magnetic fields, some materials may be able to redirect the field away from the object you wish to shield from the magnetic force.

VARIABLES• CONTROLLED variables – these variables will be kept the

same:

- magnet

- paper clips

- distance of magnet to paper clips

• INDEPENDENT variable – this variable is the one we changed on purpose:

- material between magnet and paper clips: glass,

plastic, or wood bowl

V

VARIABLES, CONTINUED• Dependent variable

- whether paper clips are moved by the

magnet or not

PREDICTION OR HYPOTHESISOur class made the following predictions to the question: Will this material block the magnet from moving the paper clips?

Wood Yes=21 No=4

Glass Yes=5 No=20

Plastic Yes=5 No=20

Most of us thought that the glass was too fragile to block the magnet, since glass breaks so easily. We thought the wood was very solid and strong, so it would block the magnet. The plastic was a little confusing. Some of us thought that since it was basically unbreakable, it would block the magnet. Others thought it was just too flimsy so it would NOT block the magnet.

MATERIALS• Magnet

• Paper clips

• Wood, plastic, and glass bowl

PROCEDURE• 1. Place 20 paper clips in the bottom of

the bowl.

• 2. Hold the magnet directly underneath the bowl.

• Move the magnet across the bottom of the bowl.

• Watch to see if any paper clips move.

• Repeat 3 times with wood, glass, and plastic bowl.

DATA/OBSERVATIONS

Glass bowl Plastic bowl Wooden bowl

Trial # 1 Yes Yes Yes

Trial #2 Yes Yes No

Trial #3 Yes Yes No

Did magnet cause paper clips to move?

CONCLUSIONThe paper clips moved in each trial for our glass and plastic bowls. So we concluded that neither glass nor plastic can block magnetic power.

However, the results for our wood bowl were confusing. The clips moved in one trial, but not the other two. So it seemed like the wood WAS able to block the magnet some time, but not others. We think we need to do further experiments with the wood. One idea was to put fewer paper clips in the bowl because it seemed like the clips were weighing each other down, and making it hard for the clips to move. We also wondered if a stronger magnet, or thinner piece of wood would give different results.

WORKS CITED

Branley, Franklyn. What Makes a Magnet? New York: Collins, 1996.

Kids Konnect website: 2012. Online. 10 Sep. 2012. Available: http://www.kidskonnect.com

Schreiber, Anne. Magnets. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2003.

Science for Kids website: 2012. Online. 10 Sep. 2012. Available: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz