Magnet Detectors

Today in science we hid magnets in boxes and then switched boxes with different groups to see if we could be "magnet detectors" using only these two tools: iron fillings and a compass. We learned that a compass needle is a magnet and one end points to Earth's magnetic north pole and the other end points to Earth's magnetic south pole. Likewise, when we placed the compass on the box, the needle pointed to wherever there was a magnet! In addition, we discovered that since the iron fillings are, well, iron, they would be attracted to the magnet. So by dragging the plate with iron fillings over the box, the fillings started to get pulled toward wherever the magnet was hidden inside! Here's a picture of what they looked like right on top of a magnet!