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

Launch Lab

Launch Lab: Magnet Maze
// Pushes and pulls without touching
⏱ about 15 min

Launch Lab: Magnet Maze

Rocket draws a twisty maze on a paper plate. "Let's steer a paper clip through it without touching!" he says.

Raven holds the plate up. "What do you notice if the magnet is under the plate?"

Nova traces the path with her light. "Move slowly around the corners," she says.

Everyone wants a turn.

  1. Magnets can attract some objects without touching them.
  2. Opposite poles attract. Like poles repel.
  3. Magnets attract iron, steel, nickel and cobalt, but not aluminum or paper.
  4. Magnet pull gets weaker with distance and passes through cardboard.
  5. Earth is a giant magnet, so a compass points north.
◇ MAGNET MAZE
Draw a maze on a paper plate with a start and a finish.
Set a steel paper clip on the start.
Hold a magnet under the plate, right below the clip.
Slide the magnet slowly to steer the clip through the maze.
Take turns. Try a thicker plate or two plates stacked together.
Safety first
Use one or two large magnets, like a bar magnet or a big fridge magnet.
A grown-up keeps tiny magnets away from babies and toddlers.
Magnets never go in your mouth.
For a grown-up
Ask: what did you notice? What would you change?
Ask: did two plates make the maze harder? Why might that be?
LAUNCH LAB CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Why can the magnet move the clip through the plate?
North and south poles ____.
A magnet attracts iron and ____.
Magnet pull gets ____ with distance.
MAZE THINKING
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Stacking two plates made the gap bigger. What happened to the magnet pull on the clip?
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