JoinAll Resources
Book Chapter
How Would a Magnet Work on the Moon?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetism. It is designed to reveal whether students think gravity has an effect on magnetism. Before using the probe, it’s important that students know how conditions on the...
Book Chapter
What Happens When You Hold a Magnet Near a Refrigerator?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetic interactions. It is designed to find out how students visually represent magnetic interactions. If materials are available, consider demonstrating the probe scenario a...
Book Chapter
What Happens When a Magnet is Brought Near a Charged Ball?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetic interactions. It is designed to find out whether students confuse electrostatic effects with magnetic effects and is best used for discussion at the start of a unit on...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetic interactions. It is designed to find out whether students recognize that it’s a force between magnetic objects that causes them to “stick.” The probe is best use...
Book Chapter
What Happens When a Magnet Breaks?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the properties of magnets. The probe is designed to find out how students would represent the poles of a broken magnet. It is best used with middle and high school students and...
Book Chapter
How Can You Represent a Magnetic Field?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetic fields. It is designed to find out how students would represent a magnetic field using magnetic field lines. The probe is best used with middle and high school student...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about magnetization. It is designed to find out how students would represent, at the particle level, a nonmagnetized versus a magnetized nail. The probe is best used with middle and ...
Book Chapter
How Can You Make an Electromagnet?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about electromagnets. It is designed to reveal where students think the magnetic effect comes from when wire is wrapped around a nail to make a magnet. The probe is best used with mi...
Book Chapter
Does the Type of Wire Make a Difference in an Electromagnet?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about electromagnets. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that an electromagnetic effect can pass through an insulated wire. This probe is best used with middl...
Book Chapter
How Can You Make a Stronger Electromagnet?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about electromagnets. It is designed to reveal what variables students think affect the strength of an electromagnet. This probe is best used with middle and high school students. If...
Book Chapter
What Happens When You Bring a Compass Near a Current Carrying Wire?
The purpose of this probe is to elicit student ideas about magnetic poles. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think a magnetic field must always have magnetic poles. It is best used with high school students. If materials are available,...