Unpacked Content
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Crosscutting Concepts
Cause and Effect
Knowledge
Students know:
- The strength of electric forces can vary.
- Cause-and-effect relationships affect the strength of electric forces. These relationships include the magnitude and signs of the electric charges on the interacting objects and distances between the interacting objects.
- The strength of magnetic forces can vary.
- Cause-and-effect relationships affect the strength of magnetic forces. These relationships include the magnitude of any electric current present in the interaction, or other factors related to the effect of the electric current (e.g., number of turns of wire in a coil), the distance between the interacting objects, the relative orientation of the interacting objects, and the magnitude of the magnetic strength of the interacting objects.
- Electric and magnetic forces can be attractive or gravitational.
Skills
Students are able to:
- Identify the phenomena under investigation, which includes objects (which can include particles) interacting through electric and magnetic forces.
- Identify the purpose of the investigation, which includes which includes objects (which can include particles) interacting through electric and magnetic forces.
- Develop a plan for the investigation individually or collaboratively.
- Describe factors used in the investigation including appropriate units (if necessary), independent and dependent variables, controls and number of trials for each experimental condition.
- Perform the investigation as prescribed by the plan.
- Use data from the investigation to provide an causal account of the relationship between various factors and the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- Various factors affect the strength of electric forces.
- Various factors affect the strength of magnetic forces.
Vocabulary
- Investigation
- Evaluate
- Factors (e.g., electric force produced between two charged objects at various positions; magnetic force produced by an electromagnet with varying number of wire turns, varying number or size of dry cells, and varying size of iron core)
- Force
- Magnetic force
- Electric force
- Electromagnetic Force
- Attraction
- Repulsion
- Magnitude
- Charges
- Currents
- Magnetic strength
