Magnets can pull towards each other or push apart. For families exploring schools in Bedok, a paper-based investigation of magnetic poles helps children explain why the result depends on which poles face each other.
Fengshan Primary School describes science learning as developing knowledge together with the skills and attitudes needed for inquiry. It encourages children to explore questions in school and at home. The reasoning activity here is independently written, not an official Fengshan experiment.
Start with drawings of two bar magnets labelled N and S. Paper diagrams are sufficient for all the questions below; no small magnets, strong magnets or electronic devices are needed.
eduKateSG · Neighbourhood education
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Contents
Explore, practise and connect · Four chapters
CHAPTER 1 OF 4
1. Identify the poles that face each other
A bar magnet has a north pole and a south pole. Like poles repel: north facing north, or south facing south. Unlike poles attract: north facing south. These rules concern the poles being brought near one another.
Draw one magnet horizontally with N at its left end and S at its right end. Draw a second the same way beside it. The facing ends are S and N, so the magnets attract in this arrangement.
Now turn the second drawing around so its S end faces the first magnet’s S end. The facing poles are alike, so they repel. Ask the child to name the two facing letters before predicting the interaction.
CHAPTER 2 OF 4
2. Use arrows to represent the forces
For attraction, draw an arrow on each magnet pointing towards the other magnet. For repulsion, draw arrows pointing away from one another. Label the arrows “magnetic force” so the diagram clearly states what they represent.
These arrows do not automatically show observed movement. A magnet held firmly in place can experience a magnetic force without moving. A support, a hand or friction may prevent motion, so “it did not move” does not prove that no force acted.
Keep the diagram simple: two magnets, a gap and two force arrows. The force can act across the gap without direct contact. Avoid adding unrelated objects until the child can connect the facing poles to the predicted force directions.
CHAPTER 3 OF 4
3. Separate attraction from proof of a pole
A magnet can attract an unmagnetised iron object as well as the unlike pole of another magnet. Therefore, seeing attraction alone is not enough to decide that an unknown object is a magnet with an opposite pole facing you.
In a simple school investigation involving ordinary bar magnets and iron objects, repulsion from a known magnet is the stronger identifying observation. An unmagnetised iron object is attracted rather than repelled in that comparison.
Keep the conclusion within that stated setup. Also avoid assuming that red always means north or blue always means south. Colours are conventions used by some manufacturers; use verified pole labels in a diagram rather than inferring a pole from colour alone.
CHAPTER 4 OF 4
4. Predict, check and explain the change
Try three paper cases: N faces N; S faces N; S faces S. The predictions are repel, attract and repel. For each one, ask for a complete explanation: “These poles are ___, so they ___.”
Next, begin with N facing S and turn only one magnet around. The facing poles become alike, changing attraction to repulsion. If both magnets are turned around, the facing poles are still unlike, so attraction remains the prediction.
End with the question “What changed in the arrangement?” A strong answer names the facing poles, rather than saying that one magnet became stronger. The useful habit is to trace a changed condition to its predicted effect and distinguish that prediction from an actual observation.
Sources and scope
School information checked on 17 October 2026 (Singapore time): Fengshan Primary School: Science overview. Programmes may change. Family activities are independently written by eduKateSG, not official school tasks. This article does not imply school endorsement, rank schools or guarantee admission or learning results.
Related reading: Explore the neighbourhood school and family learning guide.