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Here is a fun story that you can finish yourself. First, study these definitions.

• Noun:A person, place or thing. Examples: man, Alaska, or ball
• Verb:An action word. Examples: run, jump, fall
• Adjective:A word that describes a noun. Example: A pink sweater, A bouncy ball

Now without looking at the story below, come up with a word for each of the following:

Adjective: Noun: Verb: Noun: Verb: Adjective: Adjective: Noun: Adjective: Verb: Noun: Noun:

The final step is to plug in the above words you came up with into the story below.

“Once upon a time there was a (adjective) leprechaun named Patty. It was his first day on the job, and he was very excited to get started. For many years his (noun) would tell him how important it was to study in school so that he could become the best leprechaun in the land. So Patty studied and (verb) as many books as he could so that when the day finally came, he could hide pots of (noun) just like his father did. Finally his chance had come. Patty set off early one morning to (verb) pots of gold at the end of all the (adjective) rainbows in the land. He was doing just fine leaving the (adjective) gold for others to find, until he found himself lost in the forest. He grew frightened and wished he was (noun) with his mother and father. Just then he spotted a (adjective) four leaf clover. It was so pretty that he decided to (verb) it for good luck. And oh, what good luck it brought! In an instant, Patty was in his (noun), sitting at the (noun), eating a delicious meal. His mother told him he had done an excellent job hiding the gold, and his hard work in school paid off. The moral of the story is even if you make mistakes along the way, if you work hard, then good luck will always find you.”

Dear Tyler: What’s the name of the dog in the garage? Signed, Scottie

Dear Scottie, Actually, the dog does not have an official name yet. Do you have any ideas? What would you name the dog? Write back with your answers… Tyler

Iron filings align themselves in strong magnetic fields. This reveals the shape of the field patterns. A similar thing happens with the electric fields created by high voltage and by “static electricity.” If small fibers are exposed to a very strong electric or magnetic field, they will align with the field and make it visible.

Materials:

• Magnet
• Extra-fine steel wool
• Plastic bottle full of baby oil with paper label
• Scissors

Remove the Label: Make sure to buy baby oil with a removable paper label, NOT the kind with a permanent, painted-on label. Even better, try to find a bottle that has a label only on one side. If your bottle has labels on both sides, peel the label from one side of the oil bottle. You can do this by picking at the paper label with fingernails while running warm water on it.

Make the steel fibers: Obtain extra fine steel wool. This is the kind that looks like a rolled-up wad of grey hair, NOT the kind that looks like a coppery coarse net used for scrubbing dishes. Find the end of the roll, and unroll the steel wool part way. We will use the scissors to make cuts ACROSS the wool. First trim the wool straight across to remove the frayed fibers, then repeatedly cut across the wool to make many very narrow strips, narrower than 1/8 inch. This will give you thousands of short steel fibers. Cut up about a heaping teaspoon of fibers, or about one square inch of unrolled steel wool.

Mix the fibers into the oil: Gently wad up the fibers, drop the wad into the bottle of baby oil, cap it securely and shake the bottle. Shake until the wad of fibers is spread evenly throughout the oil. It helps to shake the bottle with a rotating wrist motion rather than just shaking straight up and down. While the fibers are still mixed into the oil, hold a magnet near one side of the bottle and watch the tiny fibers. They will all align themselves and reveal the three-dimensional magnetic field pattern. It helps to have the bottle in bright light so you can see the tiny fibers against the white label on the back of the clear bottle. The fibers start to settle to the bottom in 10 or 15 seconds, so you’ll have to shake the bottle every so often if you want to keep experimenting.

What happens when you hold the magnet up to the bottle? Can you see the magnetic fields?