Physics: Grade 7
Physics: Grade 7
Physics: Grade 7
Physics
Grade 7
Physics
Grade 7
Science 7
The electromagnet force, along with other forces such as gravity and friction, is one of
the foundational forces governing the universe. In today’s world, the use of electricity
is an integral part of our daily lives (light, heat, computers, TV, and other devices).
Grade 7 students will be moving on to high school in grade 8. Understanding
electricity and magnetism allows students to explore electives (and possible careers)
based on these fundamental forces.
This science topic, more than any other, serves as a clear pathway to careers in the
trades.
An electronic copy of this teacher guide can be found on Learn71:
https://portal.sd71.bc.ca/group/wyhzgr4/Pages/default.aspx
S.D. #71 Comox Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Suggested Ways to Weave Aboriginal Ways of Knowing within this unit:
Learning is experiential and place-based:
Go to Comox Lake and walk down the pipes to our local power station. On another day tour
the power station then travel from there along the Puntledge River. This allows students to
better understand the need for slope, conserving our waterways, that Comox Lake is behind a
human-made dam and is subject to tectonic forces (earthquakes).
When we ask lots of questions, our students get curious and THEY do the work. The simple
act of asking questions has the massive potential of turning passive learners into actively
engaged students. So ask lots of content-related questions!
Please consider adding the ’Energy’ unit from Scholastic’s Issues 21 to this science unit. The
teacher’s guide is FILLED with well-worded questions to provoke thinking.
A Need to Know You use electricity in every part of your life. You heart is both an electrical device and a pump.
Most of your food is preserved or cooked using electricity (in a fridge/stove/microwave,
toaster). Rooms are lit with electricity. Computers, phones, and headphones use this source of
power. How are the different forms of electricity created or generated, transmitted, and used?
A Driving Question How is electricity generated? What is the relationship between electricity and magnetism?
What happens if the electricity goes off in our community and stays off for two days, one week,
or longer? How might our response to this situation differ from other countries around the
world?
What creatures use magnetic fields to navigate? What creatures create their own electric
power? (explore electric eels and bioluminescence) What would happen if the Earth’s magnetic
field changed?
What kinds of careers use an understanding of electromagnetic forces?
An authentic Purpose Unfortunately many teachers are experiencing higher numbers of passive students. When we
create authentic purposes for their work, we stand a better chance of increasing their levels of
engagement. Please consider:
Simple scientific experiments to engage learners, (generate electricity ~ static electricity e.g.
a lemon to generate electricity or fun with static electricity; simple hands-on magnetism
activities; electromagnet activities)
hands on experiences using the Snap Circuit kit and the Electricity and Magnetism
Experiments book.
local field trips to reinforce the scientific skills within this unit.
Significant Content We loop back to our driving question and our need to know. The content becomes significant
when it matters to our students. How can we make this material relevant?
1. What is magnetism? What materials are magnetic? What is lodestone? When were
Magnetic fields and Magnetic forces discovered? Who discovered them? How are they
used?
3. Field trips provide the understanding of how we use water to store its potential power
and use that potential to generate electricity
4. What is electromagnetism?
6. What would it be like to live without these forces? (in an emergency, and as a result of
the shifting of the Earth’s magnetic field)
7. Taking the next steps through inquiry projects (near-term futures: electric cars (Elon
Musk), storage batteries (Elon Musk), magnetic levitation trains, driverless vehicles,
“Maybe … perhaps … or I think … “ Exploratory talk like this brings multiple minds together to
work on the same problem in powerful ways.
Peter Johnson author of Choice Words
Acknowledge and affirm the question and the curiosity. Use the ‘language of possibility’ …
‘maybe’, ‘could be’, ‘what if’… Experiment, explore, discover, wonder, persist, re-think, model,
wonder aloud … then walk away and see what happens!
Kath Murdoch author of Collaborative Inquiry
http://www.layers-of-learning.com/magnetism/
http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/pboudrea/class_notes/Physics12/electromagnetism/
General%20Properties%20of%20Magnets.pdf
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/electricity.html
static electricity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT_LmwnmVNM
Safety First
AC vs DC Power? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g17f9J1-r-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5nGCgk8nsA
http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/energy/electricity/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvJHjnELVSM
Think local … Take your class to Comox Lake and walk down the pipes to our
Place-Based Learning local power station. On another day tour the power station then
travel from there along the Puntledge River. This allows students
to better understand the need for slope, the need to conserve our
waterways, and that Comox Lake is behind a human-made dam
and is subject to tectonic forces (earthquakes).
3. What is electromagnetism?
Using the
Electromagnetism
materials within this
kit, invite students to
experiment and
create a snap circuit.
Electrons on the Go
Conducting Currents
Lemon Battery
Lighting Light Bulbs
Conductivity Tester
Steady Hand Game
Many of our students at the grade 6 and 7 level do not know how to deeply
comprehend text. The following link provides a pictorial lesson sequence in
which students are taught how to make notes by carefully examining the
organizational structure of text. Just because they know how to read the
words, is no guarantee they understand what they have read! You may want
to consider this formative sequence as your students read and make notes
from these articles about energy.
http://www5.sd71.bc.ca/literacy/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/A-Note-
Making-Lesson-Sequence.pdf
S.D. #71 Comox Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Source: Scholastic’s Issues 21; Energy unit; pgs. 12, 13
http://cwsf.youthscience.ca/
http://cwsf.youthscience.ca/
Unit
Physics Magnetic Fields I can describe and demonstrate magnetic poles either
attract or repel magnetic materials.
I can discriminate between four basic types of magnets
(permanent, temporary, electromagnets and
superconductors).
I can define the Curie temperature and the impact heat
has on ferromagnetic materials.
I can distinguish between ferromagnetic, paramagnetic,
and diamagnetic materials.
I can name a variety of ways in which magnets are used in
our world.
Magnetic Forces I can describe the connection between the
magnetosphere and the norther lights.
I can sketch a map of Earth’s magnetic field.
Electricity I can give examples of different ways in which electricity
can be generated.
I can critique the environmental impacts associated with
the ways in which electricity is generated.
I can build a simple electrical circuit.
Electromagnetism I can create a simple electromagnet.
I can create snap circuits to demonstrate my
understanding of electromagnetism.
I can describe through pictures and labels, my
understanding of the Earth’s magnetic field.
I can construct a simple electromagnet using a wire and
battery.
I can create a current by moving a magnet in a coil of wire.
I can explain the connection between electromagnets and
Vancouver’s Skytrain.
School District No. 71 (Comox Valley) grants permission for teachers to use these resources for educational purposes.