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19 September 2003

Need strong magnets? Do you have good manners? Know a cardio professional? Like to break things?

by Susan Campbell

I'm always on the lookout for strong magnets. I work with elementary kids presenting science enrichment programs. We often use magnets and I want to ensure that each child gets to work with several during our time together. Since I work with 20 to 50 kids at a time, I need a bunch. Of course, I have a tiny budget. So I have become a scrounge.

I have paid actual money for magnets. (Of course, I've purchased strong magnets through the SAS store.) I bought a bunch from a local manufacturer. When he found out that I work with children, he donated a bagful for me to give away to the kids. He said the magnets were spoiled in manufacturing. Polarized incorrectly, he was just going to throw them away.

During a program, each child constructs a film can compass by magnetizing a small nail and floating it on a cork in a soapy water-filled film can. After a discussion about not spilling iron filings on their mothers' carpets and a thorough safety discussion, I add a film can full of iron filings to their "for keeps" magnets and compasses. When these kids go home, they're set for experimentation on their own. (Many of the children with whom I work have never knowingly held a magnet before.)

I get iron filings, free (with my good manners), from my mechanic's brake rotor grinding bin. He is always happy to see me coming. First, because I drive an old Astro van and the door handles fall off regularly! Second, he loves to fill up my coffee can with iron filings. He told me that he hates these filings. They rust before they can be recycled. When tossed in the dumpster, they hasten the rusting out of the dumpster.

A friend who is a CCU nurse called to ask if I could use some strong magnets. She said that her hospital doesn't use the magnets that come with pacemaker kits. Instead, they use some other method to test and calibrate the devices and THROW THESE WONDERFUL MAGNETS AWAY! I now have about 20 2/3 of them (they're ceramic and brittle). They're strong enough to stick two third-graders together, so I only allow 1 pacemaker magnet per table of students. Caution: two or more of these magnets coming together can pinch your skin and make you cry! (I often wonder if they're the solution to the pierced-tongue situation, but that's just me.)

I'm a manners freak. I'm a mom. So, I include manners pointers whenever possible. I tell the kids in my programs, once they're rabid to own a big magnet, that they can get one for FREE just for having good manners. All they have to do is very politely get parental permission, then call a car stereo store and politely ask for the manager. Then politely explain that they are doing a science project involving magnets, and politely ask if they could PLEASE have an old, discarded speaker.

I explain they'll need adult help. Then I show them how to take speakers apart to get the magnet(s). I usually pry with a screwdriver, or attack (gently) with a hacksaw, if they're riveted. If yours is glued, I've read (but not tried) that gentle heating will soften the glue. Although it's very cathartic to break and rip the speaker apart, you might want to experiment with the parts, so maybe you should be gentle in your disassembly instead. In any event, be careful. Don't poke yourself.