Iron Fillings are small pieces of iron used mostly in science demonstrations about a magnetic field. Iron filings are also used in children's toys that have a kind of distracting meaning.
The picture above is an incorrect demonstration of a magnetic field.
Field similarities
You can learn more about this in the magnetism and electricity page.
A magnetic field and an electric field are basically the same things. If you electrify a coil of wire you get an electromagnet because of the similarities in their fields.