We just learned that. You’d think we’d have known. Now we do. They’re sort of like round dreidels, with a hollowed-out middle around the stem, which causes them to turn themselves upside down while they’re spinning. Great lesson in center-of-mass instruction for physics teachers. Includes an explanatory booklet with activities and discussion topics. You’ll get (3) wooden tops at 7/8”, 1-1/4” and 1-1/2” dia.

This political globe (i.e. with country boundaries) measures 11” dia, a tad larger than a standard basketball (which is 9.55” dia), and comes on a 7-1/2” base with latitude marked on its bracket. Shipped in two halves--all you have to do it push them together, although you should also feel free to use the halves as stylish bowls.

But wooden gearheads only. Making Wooden Gear Clocks is a 64-page book complete with full-size patterns for making (6) operating mechanical clocks plus a gear-machine kinetic sculpture. From Woodworking & Crafts magazine, this is for fairly advanced woodworkers, and calls for having most standard tools plus a drill press, scroll saw, router and in some cases a lathe. The resulting clocks are both intricate and stunning.

These 3-1/4" dia magnifying glasses on 5” handles are a big step up from the traditional Holmesean versions. Acrylic 1.5X lenses are surrounded by a trio of super-bright white COB LEDs for improved clue detection. (Holmes would have killed for COB lights.) They run on (2) “AA”s, thoughtfully included. We’ll pick one in a color that will complement your deerstalker.

Looking for a very, very, very long refrigerator magnet? At 15 ft, this 3/8" wide x 1/16" thick magnetic strip should just about go up one side, across the top, and down the other side. It's flexible, but can be broken if bent back against itself -- which means that small children can make craft magnets without having to cut the strip or themselves! We love it when a plan comes together!

This magnetic sheet isn't large enough to make a magnetic bed, but it's just right for making a bulletin board, hanging on to a rounded surface, or clinging to a car door with its glossy magnetic side. It's a flexible, very dark brown rubber-like material, easily cut with scissors. A 2-ft piece is cut for you from the 2-ft wide x .011" thick material.

Although they work best next to steel. You’ll get a whole bunch (that’s 25) of ceramic magnets at 3/4” dia and either 1/4” thick or 3/16” thick with a center bore approx 1/4”. (We’ll just grab what’s on top, OK?)

If they saw this color map eight times a day, they'd know where every place is-and its capital. Snap this tough, 8.5" x 11" laminated sheet into a school notebook and eventually they'll have to read it. It's a very nice world map with capital cities on one side, a U.S. map with state capitals on the other. It includes other major cities plus partial Canadian and Mexican bonus areas. Current, barring a coup since we got our latest shipment.

Like Wonder Woman, this nickel-plated rare earth magnet is pretty and extremely powerful. It’s a 3/4” square x 1/4” thick neodymium magnet with an 8-lb pull and a better-than-usual plating job.

Ceramic magnets, 15/16" dia x 3/16" thick. One side has a 5/16" sq that goes through to a steel plate is octagonal, 9/16" across with a 3/16" dia hole in the center. The plate allows flexible mounting of the 3/4 lb lift magnet. The other interesting feature is that the ceramic appears to have many poles around the rim, (4 ea N and S). This may be a focussing effect of the insert, though.

The weirdness just gets weirder in the "Weird Civil War" entry in this book series, tracing ghosts, creepy legends and other spooky tales of the Civil War (or War Between the States, or War of Northern Aggression, depending upon how you hold). Stories weave through the Carolinas, Florida & Georgia, Kentucky & Tennessee, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and DC, plus the Midwest, Great Plains and Southwest. Lushly illustrated in a 207-page hardcover, but don't count on it for your SAT prep.

Sounds like a Portuguese percussion album, but it’s just an alnico bar magnet in a mount that lets it rotate freely to demonstrate the three-dimensional magnetic field. Ideal for experiments about forces between magnetic poles, fields around wire and coils, and the properties of fields produced by electric currents. Also handy as part of your ghost-hunting gear.

Beautiful refrigerator magnets, all set to be imbedded in your child's best ever creation for refrigerator work. Six file card holding power, 3/4" dia x 3/16" thick ceramic with beveled edges to minimize chipping. They don't come much better than that!!

Physics project alert! This robust puppy of a magnet has dual 6V coils and stands 4" high x 3-1/4" wide, not counting the side terminals. Each coil draws 2.4A at 6VDC, and is conservatively rated for 40 Newtons (approx 9 lbs) at that voltage. Can be wired in either parallel or series, and comes with a mounting hook. Works great with a 6-volt lantern battery.

A phenomenal glow-in-the-dark star finder is the perfect solution for learning constellations. Charge it up inside or with a flashlight before you head out to enjoy the night sky or use a red flashlight outside to preserve your night-vision. Shows star positions for any date and time; just match up the two on the outer ring and you'll be able to tell Betelgeuse from Aldebaran. Wondering if that bright thing over there is a planet? Check the chart on the back to find out which constellation the four visible planets are in and impress your family members with your new found knowledge. Also includes a self-contained zodiac dial on reverse side.

Shiny! This plated rare-earth magnet is 3/4" dia x 1/8" thick and has a 6-lb pull. Ignore the 12-lb rating on the box--that's why you're getting this so cheap, and 6-lb is plenty of pull for one person anyway.

Then, by golly, you need to write them down. We recommend this trio of 48-page unicorn notebooks. Measure 5-1/2" x 3-3/8" with ruled pages and a different unicorn on each cover, plus a keeper inside the back cover that lists pretty things and unicorn lore. Take notes with these at the staff meeting and you’ll likely avoid some ugly assignments.

…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.