OpenSciEd Unit 8.3 · Lesson 06
Figuring out the speaker
Assessment guide
How to read student work on this assessment — standards alignment, what strong understanding looks like, and common gaps.
Learning progression
Target understanding
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Standards alignment
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What understanding looks like
Strong
- Magnetic force pairs between two magnetic objects can be attractive (pair of pulls) or repulsive (pair of pushes).
- A magnet has an invisible field around it that describes the way a test object (like a magnet or a piece of iron) would act if it were brought close to the magnet.
- A coil of wire acts like a magnet when it is connected to a battery (or a music player), including having an invisible magnetic field.
- Students should also feel comfortable using the language of cause and effect to frame hypotheses.
From Teacher Edition
View assessment opportunity →Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
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What to look / listen for
Midpoint Assessment
Figuring out the doorbell provides a scoring guide specific to this assessment. This midpoint assessment is important formatively to make sure the class is on the same page and ready to move forward in the unit. At this point, students should be comfortable with the following claims:
- Magnetic force pairs between two magnetic objects can be attractive (pair of pulls) or repulsive (pair of pushes).
- A magnet has an invisible field around it that describes the way a test object (like a magnet or a piece of iron) would act if it were brought close to the magnet.
- A coil of wire acts like a magnet when it is connected to a battery (or a music player), including having an invisible magnetic field.
- Students should also feel comfortable using the language of cause and effect to frame hypotheses.
What to do
- 6.A Develop an initial model to describe how forces and energy transfer in magnetic fields explain cause and effect relationships between parts of a speaker system (magnet and coil of wire).
- 6.B Ask questions about how interactions between parts of a speaker system (magnet and coil of wire) cause sound without those parts touching each other.
What to do
see Midpoint Assessment: Figuring out the doorbell for more guidance. Look for patterns in ideas that students included in their responses, and those ideas that are missing or incomplete. Use this information to revisit ideas using the class consensus model or through answering questions on the DQB related to those items on the assessment.
Materials
Last updated from official OpenSciEd on 8/17/2026
Student handout
8.3 Lesson 6 Assessment Figuring out the.docx
Google Form
Digitized — add an editable copy to your Google Forms
Teacher guide
8.3 Lesson 6 Teacher Edition.docx
Answer key (recommended)
8.3 Lesson 6 Answer Key Midpoint Assessment Figuring.docx