Mississippi Science P.3.6.3
The Standard
- P.3.6
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of magnets and the effects of pushes, pulls, and friction on the motion of objects.
Research and communicate information to explain how magnets are used in everyday life.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Motion, Forces, and Energy
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use a short article or product diagram to find out how a household magnet works. They explain what it attracts and how that helps an object do its job.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student explains that a magnetic cabinet latch pulls on a steel plate to keep a door shut. They use a fact from a source and label the magnet and plate in a sketch.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think magnets attract every metal, including aluminum, or that they attract plastic. Some think a fridge magnet sticks to paper, rather than pulling toward the steel door behind it.
How to Assess It
- Give students this source card: “A cabinet latch has a magnet on the frame and a steel plate on the door. The magnet pulls the plate when the door closes.” Ask them to draw and label the latch, then write how it keeps the door shut.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Test a bar magnet with a steel paper clip, aluminum foil, and a plastic lid, then connect the result to a cabinet latch.
Show a photo of a cabinet latch and ask partners, “What would happen if the steel plate were replaced with plastic?”
Sort picture cards of a fridge magnet, cabinet latch, and wooden doorstop into magnet uses and nonmagnet uses; explain one choice.
Read a magnetic cabinet latch package diagram, then sketch where its magnet and steel plate would go on a classroom cupboard.
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Printable P.3.6.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to P.3.6.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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