Magnetism Sorting Activity for Third Grade Science

Teach students about Magnetism with a SORT about Magnetic and Non-Magnetic objects. This science sort is aligned with the Next Generation Science Stations for Third Grade. Students read a short passage, then look at the images on the sort cards to determine what objects are magnetic or non-magnetic.

What is Included in the Magnetic and Non-Magnetic Sort Station

Included in the Sort about Magnetism is:

• an Informational text that gives a short description of what makes something magnetic
• Differentiated questions in short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and multiple-choice formats. Worksheet and task cards are included for some options.
• Larger table-group color sort
• Smaller cut and paste sort for individual students
• Answer key

Informational Article about Magnetism

The Magnetism Sort includes an informational article about what makes objects magnetic and why other objects are non-magnetic. The focus of the article is on describing a piece of metal that has an invisible field around it. Magnetism is the invisible force around some objects that attracts, or pulls, certain metal objects toward it. The text goes on to give examples and non-examples of magnetic objects.

Students use the text as a foundation for the sort, but the sort can be done without the text, based on prior experience.

What you see below is the informational article and short answer page for student responses. Students can also respond in their science journals using task cards.

The Magnetism Sort on Magnetic and Non-Magnetic comes in two formats. There’s a larger, color version and a black and white version.

Magnetism Sort for Table Groups

There are two ways students can engage with this sort. One way is in table groups where students collaboratively look at the images and decide if they are magnetic or non-magnetic. The images are mentioned in the text, so students can refer back to the reading to verify their answers.

This sort has clear, colorful images that allow students to analyze and decide if objects are magnetic or non-magnetic.

Here are examples of several of the images from the sort above:

• Magnetic Objects: key, paperclip, scissors, spoon, and nail.
• Non-Magnetic Objects: cup, log, book, crayon, straw, and so forth.

Students look at the images on the cards and sort them into the correct category: magnetic or non-magnetic.

Cut and Paste Option

The second way to do the sort is a cut and paste option. Students can do both options: sort color option as a whole group and the cut and paste option individually. Or you can choose to have students do only one option. Alternatively, do one version of the sort in class and send the other version home for additional practice.

The cut and paste option is a black and white worksheet format. Students look at the image and then sort it into the correct category: magnetic or non-magnetic.

How to Purchase the Magnetism Sort Science Station

This Magnetism Sort Science Station can be purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers. It is sold individually and part of a whole Static Electricity & Magnetism Set of Stations. Also available is a Third Grade NGSS Science Station BUNDLE.

Also available is a 5E Unit all about Magnetism. This 5E unit goes in-depth on Magnetism using the 5E process.

Books about Magnets

Do you need some picture books all about magnetism? Here is a list of many of my favorite books to use in an elementary science classroom.

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