What Do Magnets Pull and Push?

What Do Magnets Pull and Push?: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

Will a magnet pick up a plastic cup? Magnets only pull things made of iron or steel, and two magnets can pull together or push apart depending on which ends face each other. Students test four objects (a steel paper clip, a wood block, an iron nail, and a plastic cup) to decide what a magnet pulls, then look at the ends of bar magnets to decide whether they attract or repel.

Key Science Vocabulary

• magnet: an object that pulls iron and steel
• attract: to pull toward
• repel: to push away
• poles: the N (north) and S (south) ends of a magnet
• magnetic material: a material a magnet pulls, such as iron or steel

What Students Do

• Read a short teach box: magnets pull iron and steel, different poles attract, same poles repel
• Part A: four picture cards with the material in bold; circle pulls or does not pull
• Part B: three pairs of bar magnets with clear N and S ends; circle attract or repel
• Answer key with red reason lines such as “S faces S. Same ends repel.”

Standards

Florida SC.4.P.8.4: Investigate and describe that magnets can attract magnetic materials and attract and repel other magnets. Aligns with NGSS 3-PS2-3 (cause and effect of magnetic interactions).

Where It Fits in Grades 3 to 8

Younger students sort objects by whether a magnet pulls them. Grade 4 adds poles and the attract and repel rule. In middle school this leads to magnetic fields, electromagnets, and the forces that act at a distance.

Teaching Tip

Give each pair of students two bar magnets before Part B. Feeling the push of two N ends makes the rule stick better than any picture. Prints clearly in black and white and takes 8 to 10 minutes.