Mississippi Science PHY.5.8
The Standard
- PHY.5
- Students will investigate the key components of electricity and magnetism.
Enrichment: Design and construct a simple motor to develop an explanation of how the motor transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy and work.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Electricity and Magnetism
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students build a motor using a wire coil, battery, and magnet. They explain how current in the coil interacts with the magnet to make the coil turn. They describe how that motion could move a load.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can make the coil spin and show that it slows to a stop when they break the circuit. They identify the battery as the energy source and explain how the turning coil could do work on a load.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think the magnet supplies the energy instead of the battery. Others expect the coil to turn when the circuit is open or the magnet is removed.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Sketch the motor you built and label the battery, coil, and magnet. State what supplies energy, what makes the coil turn, and one load it could move.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Wind enamel-wire into a coil, scrape one end fully and the other halfway around, then balance it on battery-connected paper clips over a magnet.
Ask students to trace energy from the battery to the spinning coil and explain why the magnet is not the energy source.
Give pairs four motor diagrams, one complete and three missing a battery, magnet, or contact; have them predict which spins and explain why.
Bring in a battery-powered fan; have students point to its battery, motor, and blades, then name what the spinning blades push.
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Printable PHY.5.8 Worksheet
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