Unit Overview
Students read a story about "Hardware Disease," make observations and ask questions about the story. Since magnets are a central part of this story, the STEM explorations selected help inform the story and expand students' science and mathematics skills through exploring with magnets. Students increase their literacy skills by reading an informative piece and keeping accurate records in a notebook.
Materials
Links to purchase sources for magnets can be found in the materials sections for each lesson. General source magnets can be found in most larger stores. Rare earth magnets are usually only available from an online source.
STEM Content
Science Topics: The nature of magnets is central to these explorations. What materials are magnetic, how lines of force interact, and different compositions of magnets.
Mathematics Topics:
Technology Topics: Each of the explorations require using tools and adapting materials to show magnetic behaviors.
Engineering Topics: Invitations to thinking about how magnets can be used to levitate vehicles is seen in Exploration #5 and #6.
Literacy: Opportunity to read informative text and learn how individuals interact with information, make inferences, integrate information with science and technology
Assessments
Assessment of student progress in this unit depends on the nature of goals and objectives set. Given below are suggestions for assessing students for any work in this unit:
Process Skills: The STEM Notebook can be examined to determine if students are properly making observations of their work. Follow a rubric to determine if all aspects of journal writing meets what STEM professional would require.
Science Content: A simple content quiz can check students knowledge on important science concepts such as the nature of magnets. Students could report in any open-ended way by asking questions such as: "What happens when two magnets are placed near one another? What kinds of materials are magnetic? What are magnets used for?"
Mathematics Applications: Can students take data and make a graph? Can they interpret the graph? Is the Graph properly labeled? Giving students a data chart and graph paper is a good way to determine if they have the skill to build a proper graph."
STEM Habits of Mind: One characteristic of STEM professional is a series of habits of the mind. Is the student asking questions? Reading about the topic? Following directions? Using tools and materials carefully? Trying different combinations of materials? Recording observations and actions properly? Working with others collaboratively? Teacher/Parent observation and feedback can work to hone these skills. See: https://sites.google.com/a/eou.edu/ventures/how-engineers-think. and a scoring guide at: https://sites.google.com/a/eou.edu/ventures/templates/scoring-guide-step-1-template