What Do We Know About Magnets? The purpose of the elicitation activity is to prompt you to think about what you already know about magnets and magnetism, and to allow you to share and compare your ideas with other teachers. This activity involves exploring three sealed envelopes and gathering as much information as you can about the contents of each.... Working with another person, Gather 5 magnets. Put a string or thread through one of the m. Place two magnets on each side of this magnet. You or your partner should then hold the ends of the string in one hand, letting your block of five magnets dangle freely. Place a piece of masking tape on one end of your block of five magnets. This is simply a way for you to tell the difference between the two ends of your magnet block when you make observations.