For Teachers

Give students 12 minutes to read the passage and complete all eight interactive tasks in order.
Check student progress automatically through the instant feedback cards provided after each task.

For Learners

Read the short article first and look at the hard words in the vocabulary cards below.
Next, answer all eight questions to test your understanding of how magnets work.

School Science Article

How Magnets Work

NASA says that every magnet has a north pole and a south pole. A pole is one end where the magnet is strongest. NASA says two north poles push each other away, two south poles push away, and a north and south pole pull together. A magnet hanging from a string turns until its north end points north because Earth pulls it. NASA says a man called Oersted found that an electric current made a compass needle move. A university physics page says only a few metals, such as iron, cobalt and nickel, are pulled strongly by a magnet, while most other metals are not.

One of the two ends of a magnet. Its power is strongest there.

Electricity that moves along a wire.

A common strong metal that a magnet pulls.

A hard metal that a magnet pulls strongly.

A shiny metal that a magnet pulls strongly.

1 True / False

____ True ____ False

2 True / False

____ True ____ False

3 Multiple Choice

____ a. They push each other away. ____ b. They pull together. ____ c. They turn into electric current.

4 Multiple Choice

____ a. Because Earth pulls it. ____ b. Because Oersted pushes it with electricity. ____ c. Because iron and nickel pull it away.

5 Matching

6 Multiple Choice

____ a. Make a compass needle move. ____ b. Turn magnets into gold. ____ c. Destroy all magnetic poles.

7 Short Answer

____ (Write your answer here...)

8 Short Answer

____ (Write your answer here...)