AIMS - Primarily Magnets

I Hear and I Forget. I See and I Remember. I Do and I Understand.
This old Chinese proverb is found at the very beginning of Primarily Magnets, a hands on book that teaches science and math activities. I find that proverb to be true in my life, and in the lives of my children. We all seem to understand and retain information better when we jump in and get our hands dirty ;) So, when we received this resource, I had high hopes that this would be a good fit for our family.

What you'll find inside:
Lots of great activities and experiments that will teach most everything that pertain to magnets. The first few lessons  taught us why magnets attract and repel each other, what they were used for in past times, and what will and will not "stick" to magnets. 

The activities get even better as you make your way through the book. We were pleasantly surprised to find that even art was incorporated! We took a little box and placed a sheet of paper in it, along with several blobs of paint, and a paper clip somewhere in the middle of the box. Then, using a ring magnet attached to a ruler, we held it under the box and were able to move the paper clip around through the paint, making pretty designs.

Another favorite  was Willy the Worm. Chenille stems were our little worms, and the object was to get him through his tunnel and back home, while learning that we could make our magnets go in a variety of directions and zigzags. We made copies of the reproducible sheets that look like a worm tunnel, and taped it to a table. Then, using a magnet, as in the lesson I described above, we made Willy tunnel all over. Lots of fun!

There are plenty of other activities to engage your K-2 student. As you work toward the end of the book, there is a review book to make, as a summary of what has been learned. There is also a final assessment for the students.

I should also mention that included with Primarily Magnets is a handy dandy little Cd Rom.

We really had fun with this book. It was a good fit with my science lovin' family. And, I think it would be safe to say that most every family with the younger aged students will enjoy it as well. While I'm sure there are some exceptions, most kids that I have come in contact with love anything hands on. I highly recommend that you try this one out!


AIMS Educational Foundation
Primarily Magnets
Ages: Grades K- 2
Price: $18.95
http://store.aimsedu.org/aims_store/books/primarily-magnets-cd.html


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Finally, I received a free copy of AIMS Primarily Magnets in exchange for my honest review of it, with no additional compensation.