Mississippi Science PHS.9.2
The Standard
- PHS.9
- Students will explore basic principles of magnetism and electricity (e.g., static electricity, current electricity, and circuits).
Distinguish between magnets, motors, and generators, and evaluate modern industrial uses of each.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Electricity
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students tell apart magnetic attraction, electricity turning a shaft, and a turning shaft making electricity. They compare industrial uses of magnets, motors, and generators, including what each does well and where it falls short.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why a magnet sorts steel, a motor runs a conveyor, and a generator supplies electricity from a wind turbine. They can name a limit for each use, such as which metals a magnet attracts, motor power use, or changing wind.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think any device with a magnet makes electricity, or that motors and generators do the same job. Some think a generator makes energy without a moving input.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A scrapyard uses a magnet to sort steel, a motor to run a conveyor, and a wind-driven generator to power lights. For each device, state what it does and one benefit or limit of that use.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a magnet, battery, small DC motor, and voltmeter; test attraction, powered spinning, and voltage from hand-spinning the motor.
Ask: Which device belongs at a steel-sorting yard, on a conveyor, and inside a wind turbine, and what limits each choice?
Make cards showing inputs, outputs, and factory jobs; teams match each card to magnet, motor, or generator and explain their matches.
Show a scrapyard crane photo; ask why an electromagnet can release steel, then compare its power cost with a permanent magnet.
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Printable PHS.9.2 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- PHY.5.7
Analyze and communicate the relationship between magnetic fields and electrical current by induction, generators, and electric motors (e.g., microphones, speake...
- P.3.6.3
Research and communicate information to explain how magnets are used in everyday life.
- P.6.6.4
Compare and contrast magnetic, electric, frictional, and gravitational forces.
- PHY.5.1
Analyze and explain electricity and the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
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