• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Magnet poles: attract or repel?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. You hold two bar magnets so that the south pole of one faces the south pole of the other. What happens? (attract (pull together) / repel (push apart)) → repel (push apart)Prompt: Are the two poles the same or different?
2. Where is a bar magnet's pull strongest? (equally everywhere / exactly in the middle / at its two ends (poles) / nowhere) → at its two ends (poles)Prompt: Dip a bar magnet in paperclips. Where do most stick?
3. True or false? Magnets can only attract, never repel. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Same poles: what happens? Different poles: what happens?

• Show a circuit with a gap and ask why the bulb doesn't light.
• Share the objective: Static electricity: charged objects attract and repel. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: You rub a balloon on your hair and hold it near your head. Your hair lifts towards it. Why?
• Step 1: The balloon gains negative charge, the hair is left positive, and opposite charges attract.
• Step 2: So the answer is: Rubbing gave the balloon and hair opposite electric charges, which attract.
• Answer: Rubbing gave the balloon and hair opposite electric charges, which attract.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Lightning is a giant spark of static electricity. Where does the charge build up? (in rainbows / in the Moon / inside trees / in storm clouds, as ice and water drops rub and bump) → in storm clouds, as ice and water drops rub and bumpPrompt: Think of millions of tiny pieces of ice rubbing together.
2. Do these attract or repel: two negative charges? (attract / repel) → repelPrompt: Are the charges the same or opposite?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Do these attract or repel: a charged balloon and your hair? (attract / repel) → attractPrompt: Are the charges the same or opposite?
2. True or false? Rubbing two materials together can give them static charges. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Same charges: push or pull?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.