Electricity and Magnetism
MYP Year 4 Sciences — Electricity and Magnetism
Electricity and magnetism are the same story told twice: charge sitting still, charge on the move, and the fields that appear whenever either one happens. Examiners test this unit almost entirely through diagrams (field patterns, circuit symbols, I–V graphs) and data-based deductions — so the skill that actually earns marks here is reading a pattern correctly and naming why it looks that way, not just reciting a definition.
Overview
Why electricity and magnetism sit together
Every idea in this unit comes back to charge. Static electricity is charge sitting still. Current electricity is charge flowing round a loop. Magnetism appears whenever charge moves — inside a current-carrying wire, inside a spinning electron, inside a permanent magnet's atoms. That's why a current-carrying coil behaves exactly like a bar magnet, and why an MRI scanner (a giant electromagnet) can be discussed in the same breath as a rubbed balloon.
- Static electricity: charge builds up and stays put until it discharges.
- Current electricity: charge continuously flows around a complete circuit.
- Magnetism: a force field that appears around moving charge (a current) or certain aligned materials (permanent magnets).
- Circuits, resistance and safety devices are all about controlling where that flowing charge goes — and stopping it going somewhere dangerous.
The shape of the chapter
Command terms that decide your mark
| Command term | What it demands | AO | Mark-earning move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Define | Give the precise accepted meaning of a term. | AO1 | 1 mark for the exact idea (units where relevant) — a vague paraphrase scores 0. |
| Describe | State the pattern or features observed, without explaining the cause. | AO1 | Marks go to the observed pattern (e.g. 'lines curve from N to S, denser near the poles') — jumping to 'because...' here wastes time, not marks, but won't earn extra. |
| Explain | Give a reason or mechanism, usually needing a linking 'because'. | AO2 | A bare description with no causal link scores 0 on an Explain question. |
| State | A brief factual answer with no justification needed. | AO1 | 1 mark for the fact alone — extra explanation isn't required or extra-credited. |
| Calculate | Produce a numerical answer with visible working. | AO2 | Marks split across method, correct substitution, and final answer with unit — a right answer with no working can lose the method mark. |
| Deduce | Use the given data to reach a conclusion that isn't stated outright. | AO3 | Must explicitly reference the numerical pattern in the data — quoting prior knowledge instead of the data scores 0. |
| Compare | Give both similarities AND differences. | AO3 | A one-sided answer (only differences, or only similarities) is capped at half marks. |
| Suggest | Apply your knowledge to an unfamiliar context. | AO2 | Credit is given for any physically plausible reasoning, even if it isn't the exact 'model' answer. |
Key point
Overview