Virginia SOL PS.9.f
The Standard
many technologies use electricity and magnetism.
Virginia Standards of Learning for Science · The student will investigate and understand that there are basic principles of electricity and magnetism. Key ideas include
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how devices use electric current, magnetic fields, or the interaction between them. They explain how motors, generators, speakers, doorbells, and electromagnets transfer energy or produce motion and sound.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can label the current, coil, and magnetic field in a device diagram. They can name the input and output energy and explain what the magnetic interaction does.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think electricity and magnetism are the same thing, or that every magnet needs electricity. They may also say generators create energy rather than convert motion into electrical energy.
How to Assess It
- Give students a diagram of an electric doorbell. Ask them to label the coil and armature, then explain how closing the switch produces sound.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build an electromagnet with a D-cell, insulated wire, and iron nail, then compare paper clip pickup after changing the number of coil turns.
Write a comparison explaining how a motor and generator use magnetic fields, including the energy input and output of each.
Sort device cards into electromagnet, motor, generator, transformer, or speaker, then defend each choice using evidence about current and magnetic fields.
Examine a hand-crank flashlight and diagram how motion, magnetism, and electric current work together to produce light.
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Printable PS.9.f Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to PS.9.f, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 5.9.c
advances in technology improve the ability to transfer and transform energy.
- 5.4
The student will investigate and understand that electricity is transmitted and used in daily life. Key ideas include
- PS.9.e
electric current and magnetic fields are related; and
- PS.9
The student will investigate and understand that there are basic principles of electricity and magnetism. Key ideas include
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