Visits

Thank you for your interest in Classroom Outreach from the National MagLab. To request an outreach, please complete our online Outreach Request Form. Please sign up for our Educator's Club to keep up with all of our events.

The MagLab extensive classroom outreach programs reach more than 5,000 students each year. Teachers can choose from diverse outreach topics that will give students a hands-on experience with science.

Science nights for individual schools are offered based on staff and scientists availability. School-wide science events or requests for MagLab outreach at community events must be requested 8 weeks in advance. For more information, contact Amy C. Howe at (325) 294-4786 or amy.howe@ufl.edu.

Details

• We offer a series of specially designed, hands-on lessons
• Each session features inquiry-based activities
• Outreach is done for individual classes, one at a time, up to six classes per day (maximum 30 students per class)
• School-wide assembly presentations are not available
• Visits are tailored to your specific needs
• Each lesson usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour
• We provide downloadable pre/post materials in PDF format that can improve students' understanding of the concepts
• All activities are correlated to Florida's Sunshine State Standards
• Classroom outreach must be scheduled 15-60 days before the requested date.
• School-wide science events or requests for MagLab outreach at community events should be requested 4 weeks in advance.
• If your requested date is not available and we are unable to offer you another day, we offer the materials for these activities to be checked out for use in your classroom. Email Amy C. Howe for more information.
• The list of standards covered by each outreach can be found on the last page of the pre/post materials.

Lesson Options

Choose from one of the lessons below, or call us to customize a program to meet your specific needs. Please be prepared to stay with your class at all times during the outreach. Our educators are not responsible for the class, and therefore the regular room teacher must be present. In cases of a substitute, call ahead to the Center so that proper arrangements can be made.

Build an Electromagnet

4-5 6-8 9-12

By combining items commonly found in and around your house, you can create an electromagnet. In this activity students are given the items and the basic directions for creating an electromagnet that is strong enough to pick up paper clips. They are then encouraged to modify their magnets and note the effects that each change brings to the strength of the magnet.

Download Pre/Post Materials

Magnet Exploration

K-3

After a short introduction detailing the composition and principles of magnets, students are encouraged to experiment with magnets of different compositions, shapes and sizes. This exploration allows them to make discoveries about magnets through hands-on activities that highlight the principles of magnetism.

Download Pre/Post Materials

Nature of Science: Observations and Inferences

4-5 6-8

Science is not the memorizations of facts. Science is a way of thinking, and scientific knowledge is subject to change as new information is learned. Scientists collect evidence through use observations. This evidence can challenge or support notions of how the world around us works. This activity will use evidence as a basis to distinguish between an observation and an inference.

Download Pre/Post Materials

Nature of Science: What Is a Scientist

K-3

This outreach: introduces students to the subject of science; explains what scientists and engineers do; and encourages students to think about the way they view science. Then students use their observational skills to explore magnets of different shapes and sizes, and make some amazing discoveries.

Download Pre/Post Materials