They might as well learn something while they're trying to outlast you on eating those lima beans. Set the table with educational placemats and they'll be at least a touch smarter after dinner, even if their vegetable intake is low. These laminated, 12" x 17-3/8" mats have full-color fronts, black-and-white backs. Choose the United States Map, Stars & Constellations, the Periodic Table of Elements or The Metric System.

Our compact 4” dia globes have smooth dual axes rotation and measure 5" wide x 6" high overall, including the nice black stand they’re attached to. All show their features in excellent detail. You pick: the Moon globe, showing craters, seas, rilles, valleys, mountain ranges and landing sites of manned and unmanned missions; the Celestial globe with stars, constellations and celestial images by noted German cartographer Karl Harig; the Political globe with an easy-to-read map indicating political borders and capital cities; the Antique-Style Political globe, which is like the Political globe, but old-time looking; or the Satellite globe, which shows the landmasses and oceans of earth as they appear from satellites. A few different globes next to each other make for a really great display, but they’re all nice enough to stand alone.

Classroom and Science Fair alert: Now you can order an 8-pack of metals and metal alloys for demonstration purposes. Each pack of 1" dia x 1/32" thick discs includes aluminum, bronze, brass, copper, n/silver (w/nickel), m/steel (mild: low carbon), stainless steel, and zinc. Composition of each is stamped on one side of the discs.

Nice little teaching magnet set for the primary grade classroom has (6) magnets in star, two-bar, horseshoe and ring shapes, all plastic coated in silver and red to mark the poles. Range in size from 1” to 3”, and include a few paper clips and small nails for demo purposes.

An easy way to light up the kids' eyes! Teach them to wire a simple circuit with our basic components.

• The knife switches are mounted on a plastic bases.
• The miniature plastic socket holds a standard flashlight bulb with a 14 mm dia screw base.
• We pack 6 volt and 3 volt round bulbs, or 1.5 volt bell-shaped bulbs, (5) to a package.(Bulbs are rated slightly higher to prevent them from burning out.)
• Hook up the black plastic and metal 2" x 4-1/4" telegraph key with brass contacts and (2) terminal posts with nuts.
• Our blue-plastic holder for (1) "D" battery has a small tab at each end to hook a lead to, and a 1/8" square mounting hole at each corner.
• You add the mounting surface and the know-how.
• Actual bulb voltage listed in parenthesis.

You can start with our single aluminum tuning fork, 2-tined and 7-1/2" long. It vibrates at 256 hz, and is labeled "C". Or you can order the set that has (8) forks and a mallet with a rubber-tipped plastic head. The forks are labeled low-C to high-C and come in a fitted, latched wooden box. Unfortunately, C.J., who has perfect pitch, tells us that his pitch is more perfect than most of the tuning forks. He also says you can file the tips, tuning them to an electronic keyboard until they're perfect - and we think there's a certain cachet to telling people you tuned the forks yourself. But they are perfect, if you're using them for things like teaching principles of sound or driving the chihuahua crazy.

Same here. Try the Ferrofluid Magnetic Display, a little sealed bottle with virtually fluid nano-particles of ferrous metal suspended in liquid. You’ll get (4) powerful 1/2” dia x 3/16” neodymium disc magnets, (2) of them attached to chess-pawnish holders. Move the magnets in assorted combinations around the bottle for fascinating effects. Sort of the marriage of science with desk toys, but students can’t spill these particles all over the place.

…when you crank up this 13-1/4" tall, hand-cranked Wimshurst generator. They were the toast of the 19th Century, and remained the hottest thing around, electrostatically speaking, until Bobby Van de Graaf came along. This one works like a top, zapping sparks to a fare-thee-well with very little cranking. It's mighty pretty too, in acrylic, white and silver, and will dress up a dull physics or electronics lab.

The next best thing to lightning bolts! 200,000 volts of electrostatic energy created by our Van de Graaff generator. Measures 6-1/2” diameter by 15” tall, includes a spare belt and a set of instructions detailing lots of fun experiments. For grade 6 and up. This is not a toy and should be used under adult supervision. A great tool for teaching about electricity. For your convenience, we now have Lightning Belts: replacement belts to drive that overworked generator. Operates on Standard 120 VAC with the included 3' cord.

The human body is a puzzle, really. Get a head-start on anatomy class with one of these anatomically correct breakaway models in authentically colored plastic with detailed cross-sections. Pick the 2" tall, 7-piece eyeball; the 3-1/2" tall, 6-piece human heart; or the 3-3/8" tall, 6-piece rubber and plastic human head/skull/brain. All stand on 3" square bases.