Electricity and Magnetic Fields

The grand challenge for this legacy cycle unit is for students to design a way to help a recycler separate aluminum from steel scrap metal. In previous lessons, they looked at how magnetism might be utilized. In this lesson, students think about how they might use magnets and how they might confront the problem of turning off the magnetic field. Through the accompanying activity, students explore the nature of an electrically induced magnetic field and its applicability to the needed magnet for this design challenge.