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7th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 8

Electromagnets & Generators

Magnets, circuits and making electricity

What your child practices

Practices the link between electricity and magnetism: how an electromagnet works, what makes it stronger, the devices that use them and how generators make electric current.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.P2U1.1 · electromagnetic forces, and what makes them stronger or weaker

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An electromagnet is a coil of wire that becomes a magnet when current flows, so you can turn it on and off.
  2. More coils, more current or an iron core make it stronger.
  3. Motors turn electricity into motion; generators turn motion into electricity.

Example: How can you make an electromagnet stronger? Strength comes from the current in the coil. More turns of wire add to it. Answer: add more coils of wire

Electromagnets & Generators in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 8 in 7th grade Science, after Motion, Forces & Newton’s Laws and before Earth's Moving Surface.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A magnet you can turn on and off is a…

    • permanent magnet
    • compass
    • battery
    • electromagnet

  2. Question 2

    Which source of electricity is nonrenewable?

    • sunlight
    • flowing water
    • coal
    • wind

  3. Question 3

    Which action helps you use less electricity at home?

    • leaving all lights on
    • opening the fridge for a long time
    • turning off lights in empty rooms
    • leaving the TV on

  4. Question 4

    What happens to an electromagnet when you disconnect the battery?

    • it turns into a bulb
    • it melts
    • it stops being a magnet
    • it gets stronger

  5. Question 5

    How can you make an electromagnet?

    • paint a nail
    • coil wire around an iron nail and connect it to a battery
    • rub a nail on a rug
    • leave a nail in sunlight

  6. Question 6

    Generators were invented after scientists learned that…

    • bulbs are hot
    • magnets can produce electric current
    • wood can conduct
    • water is wet

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