Palo Alto Unified School District—Science On–Line Guide for Teachers
| 4th Grade Physical Science Unit |
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General Information
The Magnetism and Electricity unit is a Full Option Science System (FOSS)
kit created by the
Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley.It is
published by Britannica.
In this unit students are expected to:
- Observe the interaction of permanent magnets with a variety of common
materials.
- Discover that magnets display forces of attraction and repulsion.
- Measure the change in force between two magnets as the distance between them
changes.
- Understand and construct open, closed, parallel, and series circuits.
- Identify a number of materials that are conductors and insulators.
- Learn how to make an electromagnet.
- Experience the relationship between the number of turns of wire around an
electromagnet core and the strength of magnetism.
- Use their knowledge of electromagnets to make a telegraph.
- Aquire the vocabulary associated with magnetism and electricity.
- Develop and refine the manipulative skills required for making investigations
in magnetism and electricity.
- Gain experiences that contribute to their understanding of several pervasive
themes that point out connections among scientific ideas and processes: PATTERN,
STRUCTURE, INTERACTION, CHANGE.
Core Concepts
- Electricity is a form of energy. The movement of electrons from one point to
another and back to the starting point is known as electricity.
- Electricity travels through certain materials when circuits are closed.
- Current electricity creates a magnetic field.
PAUSD Energy Units
Palo Alto schools integrate the science of energy into the 4th, 5th, and 6th
grade science curricula through the use of companion guides for the units on
Electricity and Magnetism (4th grade), Solar Energy and Weather (5th grade),
and Natural Resources (6th grade). Teachers are equipped with background materials
and supplies so that students can perform experiments relating science fundamentals
with topics such as electricity generation, understanding how batteries work,
and passive and active solar home design. These units expose students to real-life
applications of science fundamentals while at the same time preparing 5th grade
students for the science portion of the STAR testing program. Funding for teacher
training as well as experimental materials is provided by a grant from the
City of Palo Alto Utilities.
