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8th Grade Physical ScienceUnit 5S8P5.a–c

Electricity, Magnetism & Gravity

The forces you can't see… but can't escape.

The Water Bender.

Turn on a faucet so a thin stream of water falls. Rub a plastic comb through your hair about ten times, then hold it close to the stream — without touching it. The water bends toward the comb. No contact. No wind. No trick. So what's pulling on it?

Start: What Do You Already Know? → Explore on your own ↓
7activities
14new words
4parts
∞replays — new every time
Open world

Explore

Jump in anywhere, in any order. Every activity reshuffles each time you play, so there's always something new. You earn volts for every right answer.

Think about it

Big questions to wonder about

By the end of this unit, you'll be able to answer every one of these.

How does a rubbed comb bend a stream of water without ever touching it?

How can magnets lift a whole train so it floats above the track?

How does the Moon move Earth's oceans from 384,000 km away?

Why does one burned-out bulb make a whole string of old holiday lights go dark?

Vocabulary

Word Wall

The 14 words you'll own by the end of this unit. Tap any card to flip it. Words you collect in the activities get a ✓.

The road ahead

Unit Roadmap

Four parts, in the order we'll learn them.

1

Part 1: Static Electricity & Charge

  • Where charge comes from
  • Friction, contact & induction
  • Likes repel, opposites attract
  • Conductors vs. insulators
S8P5.aS8P5.b
2

Part 2: Current Electricity & Circuits

  • Current, voltage & the water-park model
  • What a circuit needs
  • Series vs. parallel
S8P5.b
3

Part 3: Magnetism

  • Poles: likes repel, opposites attract
  • The magnetic field
  • Earth is a magnet
S8P5.a
4

Part 4: Electromagnetism, Gravity & Fields

  • What makes an electromagnet stronger
  • Motors and generators
  • Gravity, mass & weight
  • Three fields, one idea
S8P5.aS8P5.c
Where we're headed

Learning Targets & Success Criteria

Learning Targets

I am learning to…

  • Explain how gravity, electricity and magnetism are forces that exist between objects even when they are not touching
  • Describe how electric charges can exist in different locations and be distributed differently through conductors and insulators
  • Identify how different factors affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces
Success Criteria

I will be successful when I can…

  • Demonstrate and use examples of how gravitational, electric and magnetic fields act on objects even when they are not touching
  • Complete the investigation to show the distribution of charge in conductors and insulators
  • Demonstrate how electric charges move due to conduction, induction and friction
  • Identify that the distance between objects, wire turns, # of dry cells and size of iron core affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces
Georgia Standards of Excellence

Standards

S8P5

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about gravity, electricity, and magnetism as major forces acting in nature.

S8P5.a

Construct an argument using evidence to support the claim that fields (i.e., magnetic fields, gravitational fields, and electric fields) exist between objects exerting forces on each other even when the objects are not in contact.

S8P5.b

Plan and carry out investigations to demonstrate the distribution of charge in conductors and insulators.

S8P5.c

Plan and carry out investigations to identify the factors (e.g., distance between objects, magnetic force produced by an electromagnet with varying number of wire turns, varying number or size of dry cells, and varying size of iron core) that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Watch

One-minute videos

Quick previews from Simple Science Videos.

Fields

S8P5.a

Circuits

S8P5.c

Electromagnetism

S8P5.c
More on Tobin Science

Keep going

Free activities for this unit that go deeper.

Virtual Lab Bench: circuits, electromagnets & gravity labs