Magnetic or not?

Collect objects made of different materials. Predict first: which ones will stick to a magnet? Then bring the magnet near each one in turn. Your book starts you off with a pencil, made of wood, and an eraser, made of rubber.

Some objects are pulled towards the magnet and stick to it. Others are not. Materials that are attracted towards a magnet are called magnetic materials. The metal iron is magnetic. Nickel and cobalt are magnetic metals too, and so are some of their combinations with other metals. Steel sticks to a magnet because it is made mostly of iron.

Materials that are not attracted towards a magnet are called non-magnetic materials. Wood, rubber, plastic and glass are non-magnetic. So the wooden pencil and the rubber eraser do not stick. (Not every metal is magnetic, either: a copper key or a piece of aluminium foil will not stick.)

So you can predict what a magnet will do by asking one question: what is the object made of? An iron nail will stick. A plastic spoon or a glass tumbler will not.