SUMMARY: This class provides an exciting introduction to magnets and the concept of magnetism. Students are treated to engaging and interactive demonstrations and exciting hands-on activities, always accompanied by an explanation of what they saw.
A BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Children will examine magnets up-close and at work, observing their characteristic behavior and their use in both compasses and speakers. Students will be involved in activities which will let them see magnetic fields for themselves, as well as, explore the relative strength and properties of those fields. After an entertaining demonstration which illustrates the magnet's gravity-defying abilities, the children will be introduced to electromagnets. The children then get a chance to build their own electromagnets, and will enjoy exploring its peculiar abilities.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: This class provides a wonderful grounding in the basic physical principles governing magnetism. Students will learn how magnets behave, and the reason for this behavior. They will learn how magnets can be created, and how magnetism can be lost. These scientific concepts are related to their lives as they gain a better appreciation of the role magnets play in their everyday lives, and how and why it finds its applications in everything from speakers to electric generators.
NOTE: Mad Science Programs are fun explorations into science and technology, and they encourage informal learning through hands-on experience. All Mad Science workshops include a lot of fascinating equipment, supplies, and take-home materials which the children build themselves. The Mad Science mission is to spark the imagination and curiosity of children everywhere by providing them with fun, entertaining, and educational activities which instill a clear understanding of what science really is, and how it affects the world around them.
