Christopher started his lab today by reading an essay on magnetism by a web site called ReadWorks. Christopher was taught how to use a highlighter to highlight important ideas. Christopher recognized the definition of magnetism and highlighted it. We discussed the reading one paragraph at a time as Christopher read aloud. Christopher highlighted the definition for electromagnet. I drew a diagram for him on the back of his paper. He read about a current. We discussed the experiment we did last week with the building of a circuit with a battery. We discussed how the negative charge of the battery travels as a current through the wire, then through the light bulb, and back to the positive side of the battery, creating an electric current. Chrisopher recalled the use of the switch in order to make both an open and a closed circuit. Christopher underlined the important facts about the Earth having a magnetic field as well as the planets, the moon, and the sun. He read about how animals such as pigeons and dolphins use their own response to the Earth's magnetic field by being able to travel long distances with correct directionality. Christopher watched a video about a magical levitation of a small magnet. We discussed how this was possible. Christopher reviewed the concept of how the opposite poles of the magnet attract and the same side poles will repel. Christopher reviewed this vocabulary from the handout he has in his notebook. Christopher worked with circle magnets, bar magnets, and horseshoe magnets. He experienced the attraction of the magnets when the poles were opposite and he experienced the push and repulsion of the magnets that were facing each other with the same poles. He experienced the formations caused when iron filings are placed in a semi transparent plastic dish. Christopher placed the magnet beneath the tray and saw that he could get the iron filings to stand up and to move around in clumps. Christopher worked on the experiment to levitate some paper clips. He saw the paper clips appear to be flying when the magnetic field was so strong that it could keep the paper clips afloat when even an inch away from the magnet. Chrisotpher prepared the experiment to levitate a feather. He attached a feather to a paperclip and used a strong horseshoe magnet and a circle magnet to get the feather to move slightly before it attracted to the magnet.