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Science Launch G3 / Week 03 / Monday
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Week 03 · Magnet Mysteries

Monday

A pull without touching
// Pushes and pulls without touching
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: A Pull Without Touching

Rocket slides a magnet toward a paper clip on the table. Suddenly the clip jumps and snaps onto the magnet!

"Whoa! I did not even touch it," Rocket says.

Raven tries it slowly. "What do you notice right before the clip moves?"

Nova hovers close to the table. "Watch the space between them," she says. "Something is pulling across that gap."

Magnets act at a distance

Last week a push or pull needed touching, like a kick or a tug.

Magnets are different. A magnet can pull on some objects without touching them.

Scientists say magnets act at a distance.

The pull of a magnet is called attraction. To attract means to pull toward.

  • A magnet can pull a paper clip across a small gap.
  • A magnet can pull or push another magnet without touching it.
  • A kick only works when your foot touches the ball.
TOUCHING OR NOT?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which force can work without touching?
What does attract mean?
StatementTrue or false?
A magnet can pull a paper clip without touching it.?
A kick works without touching the ball.?
To attract means to pull toward.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEMagnets pull without touching, but kicks need contact.
A magnet pulls a clip toward it. The magnet does what to the clip? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEAttract means to pull toward, which is what the magnet did.

Contact forces and distance forces

Some forces need touching. Scientists call them contact forces.

A kick, a push on a door and a tug on a rope all touch.

Other forces work across a gap. A magnet pulling a paper clip is one.

Gravity works across a gap too. A dropped ball falls without anything touching it.

DOES IT NEED TOUCHING?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Your hand pushes a swing. Does that force need touching?
A magnet pulls a steel clip across a small gap. Does that force need touching?
Gravity pulls a falling leaf. Does that force need touching?
ForceWorks without touching?
A magnet pulling a paper clip?
A hand opening a drawer?
Gravity pulling a dropped cup?
A bat hitting a ball?
WHY THIS EXERCISEMagnets and gravity act at a distance. Hands and bats must touch.
A magnet can pull a clip without ____ it.
To pull toward is to ____.
Try it
If you have a fridge magnet, hold it near a steel paper clip.
Move it slowly closer. Stop the moment the clip moves.
Is there still a gap when the clip starts to move?
Safety first
Use one large magnet. Magnets never go in your mouth.
Keep magnets away from babies and toddlers.

What a mystery! Tomorrow we find out why magnets sometimes push each other away.