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.

Who among us doesn’t? Even a just man falls seven times. Just get this little eraser wheel, 1-7/8" dia x 3/8" thick in latex-fee rubber. The plastic housing rotates to keep it closed and schmutz-free in your drawer, just waiting for you to err.

Or want to teach kiddies to write like Dickens or draw like Michalengelo? Start with blank, staple-bound 28-page paperbacks with bright white, 80-lb paper stock pages and card-stock blank covers. You pick: the 7” x 8-1/2” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” book, both with un-ruled pages because when you're young, staying between the lines isn't the thing to do.

…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.

Begin their microscopic education here, with this 40-640X student microscope from Levenhuk®. Featuring an adjustable eyepiece, variable white LED illuminator, and adjustable iris. Comes with a cover; (5) blank and (5) prepared slides; pipette; brine shrimp, yeast, sea salt and glue samples; forceps; a microtome; 58-page user guide; and a 23-page manual. Includes (2) “AA” batteries and a lifetime warranty through the manufacturer.

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.

Little-bitty horseshoe magnet, for traditionalists. Just 1-1/4" across x 1" x 5/16" thick. Red-painted Alnico, with approx 2.9 lbs of pull (ignore the 2 lb on the label) it includes a little steel keeper for when it's not sticking to a tiny horse's foot.

Pat got visibly excited when these came in, and so will you. From Helix®, these are slightly larger versions of the wedge-shaped erasers you stick on top of pencils, but these have...(you better sit down for this)...pencil sharpeners embedded inside of them! It's the pencil twofer, or "double Helix." Make perfect, crisp, mistakes and get rid of them immediately. We'll send a half-dozen in stylish white, blue, black and traditional eraser red.

This 10-piece set of 1" cubes is made to test density in the classroom, and by all means you should do that. Otherwise, how will the children ever understand density? But we like to just play with the cubes, to set them on a desk, or stack them, or line them up, or make shapes out of them, or just pick them up and marvel at their weight differences. You get perfect cubes of aluminum, steel, brass, copper, acrylic, oak, nylon, pine, poplar and PVC.

Our grandmother used to tell us that all the time, and we might have learned something while we were out there if she’d given us The Kid’s Guide to Exploring Nature, this 120-page paperback from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Chock full of information, photos and illustrations for exploring nature in both the city (includes pigeon info!) and the countryside, and in all four seasons. They might stay out of your hair until supper.

Nothing says fun science like stuff blowing up or falling down. Ask any middle-schooler. Get them started with one of these excellent books: Massively Epic Engineering Disasters, a 241-page hard-cover book devoted to (20) mishaps through the ages, plus (33) experiments based on the principles that caused them; or Potentially Catastrophic Science, 306 pages with (50) experiments ranging from pre-history to the present. Taken together, they cover everything from collapsing cathedrals and sunken boats to sonic booms and batteries.

A tad smaller in diameter than a ping pong ball, this colorful steel geographic globe is 1-3/8" dia, but pull out the little base it stands on and you’ll find a small pencil sharpener hidden inside. Also suitable for hiding secret messages, which is always handy.

So the poster is really brand new. The animals on it are (1) to (190) million years old, and if that doesn't qualify as pre-history, may we stumble over a glyptodon in the dark. Invicta Plastics Ltd. of Leicester, England, printed this 23" x 16-1/2" poster with a colorful diorama to promote their authentic scale models of prehistoric animals. A time line across the bottom lists dates and data for a dozen of them, from the plesiosaur to the woolly mammoth, and compares their sizes to that of a pair of five-year-old children. Post it on the fridge to spark supper discussions, or in the classroom as a source of extra-credit questions for science quizzes.

These mighty nice little ceramic disc magnets measure 18mm dia x 6.5mm thick, which in America, Burma and Liberia is 23/32" x 1/4", and for those of us still math-impaired, roughly a stack of (5) dimes. They have a 1/4-lb pull. No crafter should be without an enormous supply of these. Also note the physics-class-friendly bulk price.

Wonderful little book jammed with elaborate colored drawings that tells the beginner a little about everything to do with a microscope. And all in a mere 48 pages! From data on the history and types of microscopes, to introductions and samples and how to prepare them, (from tissues and insects to crystals) to ideas for experiments and lists of simple equipment needs, and how to build them at home, this book is a veritable cornucopia of information. If you are thinking of getting a microscope, we strongly recommend "The World of the Microscope" as a great stimulus for the novice user. It won't answer heavy duty scientific questions. But it will keep the beginner busy, challenged and entertained for days and weeks! By Chris Oxlade and Corrine Stockley. Paperback, 7-3/4" x 9-3/4". One of the Usborne science and experiments series of books.

You can write on duct tape, but try to change your mind later and see what happens. We recommend these 12-foot x 1-7/8” wide rolls of dark gray chalkboard tape, which you can write on with, you guessed it, chalk; or the 12-foot rolls of the more modern dry-erase tape, which we’ll pick for you in either white or day-glo orange.

Surprise your parents with a little science at home. “Science Surprises” is a 192-page paperback in its third edition with over 100 experiments that can be done using common household goodies. OK, a couple of things might require a trip to the hardware store, but still.  The science ranges from the Bernoulli principle and Stroop effect to making your own perfume and cold cream. (And remember what Shaw said: “Science never solves a problem without creating ten more,” so that makes a thousand experiments.)

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.