The children in the Orchard bubble have been exploring magnets and how they work.  They used horseshoe magnets to find out what was magnetic in the nursery garden.

A basket of items made from different materials was sorted into magnetic and non-magnetic items.  The children were very interested to find out that not all metals are magnetic and a magnet will only attract certain metals such as iron or steel.

The children investigated if a magnet would still attract a metal paper clip if it was covered over by different materials.

The children used their senses to help understand that when two magnets are near each other they either repel or attract each other.

We looked at an information book about magnets to learn that a magnet is strongest at its two ends and found out that they are called the north pole and the south pole. 

The children were also interested to learn from the information book that earth is a giant magnet and we can use a compass to find where the magnetic north is.