3-PS2-3 Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other.

As we create informational texts for each of the Next Generation Science Standards, there are tons of amazing, interesting, and just plain weird facts we are learning. I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you, so this is the first in a series of posts that tell interesting science facts!

Magnets are also used to protect the health of animals and keep our food safe. Cows that are bred for their meat graze in fields. The fields can have small bits of metal stuck inside the grasses. The debris from the field can be harmful to the cow. It can also hurt people if it gets into the meat. Magnets are passed over a cow’s feed to remove stray metal objects. Farmers also put long, narrow magnets into the feed. The cow eats the magnets, which doesn’t hurt the cow, but it is never something a person should do! Magnets can get stuck in humans and cause a lot of problems. For the cow, as the magnets pass through its digestive tract, magnetic objects are collected. The debris comes out with the cow’s manure instead of getting lodged inside your hamburger! 

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This fun fact and more are found in the text: Amazing Magnets by Michelle Negron Bueno.  Amazing Magnets is found in, StarrMatica Texts:  Science Your Way, a collection of informational texts written specifically to address every K-5 NGSS Performance Expectation.  All texts in the collection are written at six different Lexile levels, so all students can read the same content at their reading level.  You can find out more about StarrMatica Texts:  Science Your Way here: http://www.starrmatica.com/index.php?/main/texts