I would like to dedicate this book to my BIOL 4583 class.

book content comes from TEKS 2.6.B

Hello, my name is Peter! 

Can I let you in on a little secret? 

Magnets are everywhere! 

I thought magnets were just the letters that stuck to my fridge, but I have been exploring all over my house, neighborhood, and world, and I think you will be surprised to see how magnets are used in our everyday life. 

Before we begin, let us review what magnets are. 

A magnet is any object that attracts metals such as: iron, steel, or cobalt. Magnets also have poles - opposite pools attract and like poles repel. 

Let's start at my house! I wonder what we will discover here.

My mom's handbag! Magnets are used to close the handbag by the power of magnetism. We have to make sure nothing falls out of it!

Microwaves use two magnets to guide the electrons to heat the food.

Telephones use small small magnets in their microphones and speakers to capture sound.

Vacuum cleaners use powerful magnets in their motors to pick up even the smallest of trash. 

Your turn!

Can you name three items in your house that uses magnets?

Shh! Class is in session. Let's look and see what we can find at school. 

The disk inside a computer is made up of metal plates. Tiny areas on the disk can be made magnetic or nonmagnetic, creating pictures, sounds, and videos.

You can probably find a lot of items around your classroom 

that are magnetic. But why does this happen? 

Magnetism happens when tiny particles called electrons behave in a certain way. All objects in the universe are made up of units called atoms. Atoms are made up of electrons that spin around and form tiny magnetic forces. Sometimes many of the electrons in an object spin in the same direction. In these cases, all the tiny magnetic forces from the electrons add up to make the object one big magnet!.

Your turn!

Can you name three items in your classroom that uses magnets?