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Magnetic Medley
Introduction | Internet Activities | Conclusion | Dictionary
The links that follow are a sampling of the resources and information available on the Internet about magnets and their use. You may do all of the activities or you may choose the 3 that are the most interesting to you and are about things that you would like to know about magnets. If you encounter a word that you are unsure of its meaning, click the Dictionary link above. The page is set on terms that begin with the letter 'm' (for magnet of course). Simply select the first letter of the term you are looking for on the 'select a letter' line and scroll down to find it in the list. You can also try here for more basic terms if they don't show up in the list.
The activities are designed to increase your knowledge and appreciation of magnets and their many uses. Perhaps you may also start thinking of new ways in which magnets might be used in the future to benefit mankind.
1. Review the site noting things like what magnets are, the fields they generate, and how they can be made.
2. Study the relationships between different 'poles' of magnets and how the fields behave when near each other.
3. Draw a picture showing the magnetic fields of two magnets placed 'S-pole' to 'S-pole'.
Exploratorium | Magnet Experiments for the Home
1. Visit the two links above. Browse through the numerous magnet experiments listed (on the second link they are sorted topically down the page so you might first want to look at the major headings before making a selection). Then, pick an experiment that looks interesting to you from one of the sites.
2. Conduct the experiment.
3. Write a summary of what your experiment involved including what conclusions were reached.
1. Read the short article on Maglev train technology.
2. Consider the differences between the two systems being developed by the Germans (EMS) and the Japanese (EDS).
3. Create a short presentation on the attributes of the two systems and explain which one you think is best and why.
1. Using the pulldown menu shown at the top of the page, select a category for personal magnet uses and click the 'Check it Out' button to display the example given. Repeat for at least six more categories (each shows only one example) or until you have 2 that you think you might use sometime.
2. List the uses that you chose and then imagine two more that you think would be sensible personal uses of magnets.
3. Write a paragraph detailing the four uses you came up with or a poem about how or why magnets can be of personal use.
ElectroMagnetic Weapons -- Railguns: Linear Homopolar | Gauss Rifle -- NonLethal: Active Denial 'Phaser' | ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP)
1. Review at least one of the 4 listed sites.
2. Determine 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages for the technology described.
3. Compose a paragraph summarizing your findings and what you feel about what you learned.
Magnets and Health -- Helpful: Biomagnetic Therapy Not Helpful: Magnets and Hype
1. At the first link, scan the short article and the two links 'thousands of years' and 'how biomagnetic therapy works' for some history and background. Then scan the second link.
2. Think about the information presented and whether you feel the use of magnets is a legitimate therapy for treating health issues.
3. Pick a health concern given in the reading and draft a rationale either for or against using magnets in treating it.
Through this activity you've had the opportunity to learn about magnets, experiments that you can try with them, and some of the uses that other people who experiment with magnets have developed. As with most things in life, this activity has shown that you can take something simple, marvel at the wonder of it, and exercise your creative potential in devising productive uses for making life better, safer, or more interesting for yourself and others ('Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' - Mark 12:31 et alii). Can you picture yourself in this role? We should all be mindful (and thankful) of how possible, desirable, and special our privilege of doing this is; something to think about...