Magnet Play Project

Magnets are one of the most mysterious forces in everyday life — they can push and pull without touching anything! In this project lesson you will test everyday objects, make predictions, and apply what you know about magnets, matter, and energy.

What magnets attract

• Magnets attract objects made of iron, nickel, or cobalt — the three magnetic metals.
• Many other metals are NOT magnetic — aluminum foil, gold, silver, and copper all look metallic but a magnet will not stick to them.
• Wood, plastic, glass, rubber, and paper are never magnetic — they do not contain any magnetic metals.

The two poles of a magnet

• Every magnet has two ends called poles — a north pole (N) and a south pole (S).
• Opposite poles attract: a north pole pulls toward a south pole.
• Like poles repel: two north poles push apart, and two south poles push apart.
• A magnetic field is the invisible region around a magnet where its force can be felt — this is why a magnet can pull a paperclip without touching it.

Connecting magnets to matter and energy

• Matter can be a solid, liquid, or gas. Most magnetic objects are solids made of iron.
• Whether an object is magnetic is a physical property — like color, hardness, or flexibility — that you can test without changing what the object is made of.
• The sun is the main source of energy on Earth, but magnetism is a separate force that comes from the arrangement of tiny particles inside magnetic materials.