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3rd grade · Science · Unit 8 of 10

Magnet Inventions

Use magnets to solve problems, then test your design.

What your child practices

Practices using what magnets do to solve simple design problems, such as a latch or a sorter, by setting criteria and constraints and running fair tests that change one thing at a time.

California Content Standards learning standard: 3-PS2-4; 3-5-ETS1-1; 3-5-ETS1-3 · solving design problems with magnets, setting criteria and constraints, and running fair tests

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's pull gets weaker when it is…

    • farther away
    • painted
    • colder
    • closer

  2. Question 2

    In engineering, constraints are…

    • a kind of force
    • the winner
    • limits like time, cost or materials
    • what the design must do

  3. Question 3

    Which could pick up spilled paper clips fast?

    • A paper towel
    • A feather
    • A cup of water
    • A magnet on a stick

  4. Question 4

    In engineering, criteria are…

    • a type of magnet
    • the limits on a design
    • the test results
    • what a design must do

  5. Question 5

    Why do engineers test a design many times?

    • To skip planning
    • To find where it fails
    • To make it pretty
    • To waste magnets

  6. Question 6

    Two latch designs both hold the door. One costs less. If cost is a constraint, choose…

    • neither
    • the one that costs more
    • the one that costs less
    • a third one at random

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