In this exhibit you’ll make and watch patterns with spinning magnets—and create your own magnetic fields! Look down through the magnifier to see the iron pieces inside the glass-covered holder. Then pick up the “magnet wheel.” This tool has six magnets on it and can spin! So…spin the wheel, hold it underneath the iron pieces, and watch the pieces seem to “march” around and turn over!

Holding the magnet wheel underneath, see what happens when you move it closer to or further away from the pieces. Are there any differences in the way the iron pieces move now? What patterns or shapes do they form? Move the magnet from left to right and closer to and farther away from you. Do you see any differences when you move the spinner slower or faster? What happens if you don’t spin the wheel at all but just hold it still under the pieces?

Experiment with the magnet wheel; for example, spin it at different speeds and hold it at different angles. Keep watching through the magnifier to get a really close-up view of all the ways the pieces change directions and patterns.