What Magnet Set do you recommend?

[m0mmaBuck]

I'm planning to start a unit on magnetism. What set do you recommend and why? I'm looking at the following but am open to suggestions.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00076DIX8/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

http://www.amazon.com/Magnet-kit-731201-Super-Science/dp/B0030E4P2W/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1285974391&sr=1-6

[Mrs Mungo]

http://www.delta-education.com/productdetail.aspx?Collection=Y&prodID=1047

 

I love their kits, we have a ton of them.

[Alessandra]

I looked at your at your sets quickly -- maybe I missed something, but I didn't see any bar magnets -- and bar magnets are used in many science experiments. For fun, it is nice to have the ring magnets that stack on a pole -- you can stack them so that they repel each other and seem float on air.

 

When my dc were young, I got this set -- it has a lot of stuff at a decent price:

 

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=15920&keyword=magnet&scategoryid=0&CategorySearch=&Brand=&Price=

 

But now that dc are doing more serious study, I bought other magnets, especially bar magnets, from Home Science tools. Some of the bar magnets in the kit above have the poles in the center of each flat side, north on one flat side, south on another flat side. So they were useless for a lot of experiments.

 

You might also want one of those sealed tubes or boxes with iron filings. (Loose iron filings can be dangerous, if kids get them on their hands and then rub their eyes.) Magnetic tape is also fun.

 

 

http://www.delta-education.com/productdetail.aspx?Collection=Y&prodID=1047

 

I love their kits, we have a ton of them.

 

I haven't tried the magnet kit, but we have done other Delta Nutshell kits. The teacher guides and student workbooks are well done, with just the right amount of info, IMO. They may seem pricey, but, since they are so easy to use, they don't sit on the shelf. So they become economical, KWIM?

Edited October 2, 2010 by Alessandra

[m0mmaBuck]

Thanks! Those both look good. I like the idea of an "all in one" kit like the Science in a Nutshell one. Otherwise I end up with a stack of library books, trying to piece together something that makes sense to DS.