Magnetic Personality

Tonight we were studying the properties of magnets. Nothing too formal, just experimenting with Steven's magnet toys, and enjoying some educational play time. "Look what I can build, Mom!" (ok, the picture here is not what he built - I actually borrowed that from some website... but pictures make blog entries more interesting - so I thought I would clue you in on what we were playing with.)




















A few months ago Steven had asked me why the magnets to push each other apart or pull each other together... and I wasn't quite sure. So, I consulted with a teacher, whom I fully expected to explain the properties of magnetics and demystify my foggy understanding of magnetics. He did a great job of explaining what scientists and mathematicians had observed, but he maintained that the reason of why magnets do what they do was still relatively unsolved. Regardless of whether we know why magnets do what they do... they are still fun to play with.