Magnetism and Gravity Teaching Resources

Explore magnetism and gravity with engaging activities, printable worksheets and more teacher resources aligned with the NGSS curriculum.

This collection of teacher-created resources covers everything you need to introduce primary students to magnetic poles and fields, gravitational pull and so much more! Save time on your lesson plans with easily editable resources and differentiated options that have been carefully reviewed by the science teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure they're ready for your classroom and your students!

Is this your first year teaching kids about magnets and the force of gravity? Or maybe you are just looking for fresh ideas? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including kid-friendly definitions of these terms that you can use to explain the concepts in your classroom.

What Is Magnetism & What Are Magnets? 2 Kid-Friendly Definitions

Wish you had a script handy to introduce any topic to your class for the first time? The Teach Starter site is full of definitions of common concepts that we have made for teachers. Here's one that we use to explain what magnetism means to our students:

Magnetism is a force that causes magnets to attract (or pull) certain materials toward them. It's also the name of the force that causes magnets to push away or repel other materials.

But wait, how do you explain what a magnet is to your students? Here's another definition made just for your students!

A magnet is a special object that produces a magnetic field around it, which causes attracting or repelling.

You might ask students if they have seen magnets that stick to the fridge in the kitchen or bring some of your own in from home to demonstrate how these everyday items attract metal.

How Do Magnets Work? — A Kid Question, Answered

Of course, your students will want to know how magnets actually work. Why does a magnet stick to the refrigerator or your whiteboard when it won't stick to their jumper or knee?

Magnetic fields can be used to break down this phenomenon for your students.

What Are Magnetic Fields?

Around each magnet is something called a magnetic field. This is an invisible area around a magnet where its force can be felt.

When you bring another object close to a magnet, this magnetic field tries to pull it closer or push it away.

The magnetic field of a magnet is attracted to certain materials, such as the metal on a refrigerator or the classroom whiteboard. These are materials we call "magnetic," which means that they have the ability to attract a magnet, and the magnet will stick to them.

Examples of magnetic materials include:

1. Iron
2. Steel
3. Nickel

Because iron is a magnetic material, showing a magnet attracting tiny iron filings is a great visual to help students understand magnetism! 

Other materials are not magnetic, meaning they do not attract a magnet, and the magnet will not stick to them.

Examples of non-magnetic materials include:

• Wood
• Plastic
• Glass
• Rubber
• Paper

What Are Magnetic Poles?

Why do magnets push some materials far away, but stick tight to other materials?

The answer comes down to something called the magnetic poles. Each magnet has two poles — a North pole and a South pole — and those opposite poles are attracted to one another.

Let's say you bring the North pole of one magnet close to the South pole of another magnet. These two opposite magnetic poles will attract each other and stick together.

But let's say you do the opposite and try to bring two North poles together or two South poles together. They will repel or push each other away.

You may even see these items move when they aren't being moved by a human or other visible force!