Alaska Science
Key Element A5

A student who meets the content standard should understand the strength and effects of the forces of nature, including gravity and electromagnetic radiation (Forces of Nature).

Performance Standard Level 2, Ages 8–10

Students observe the force and energy manifestations of nature, such as gravity, magnetism, light and electricity and their interactions with a variety of materials.

Sample Assessment Ideas

• Students describe and explain how the weight of an object will be different on the moon and on the Earth.

• Students describe and explain static electricity—create charges by rubbing rabbit fur on different materials; compare the charges created and rank each material according to amount of charge produced.

• Students measure how the push / pull of poles of magnets varies with the distance apart; chart or graph the results

• Students draw ray diagrams to explain how an image is formed in a mirror; predict where the image will appear.

Standards Cross-References
( Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Standards)

National Science Education Standards

Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun and governs the rest of the motion in the solar system. Gravity alone holds us to the Earth’s surface and explains the phenomena of the tides. (Page 161)

Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object—emitted by or scattered from it—must enter the eye. (Page 155)

Electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy when heat, light, sound, and chemical changes are produced. (Page 155)

Benchmarks

The Earth’s gravity pulls any object toward it without touching it. (Page 94)

Without touching them, a magnet pulls on all things made of iron and either pushes or pulls on other magnets. (Page 94)

Without touching them, material that has been electrically charged pulls on all other materials and may either push or pull other charged materials. (Page 94)