Make Your Own Compass

How long it’ll take:

15 minutes

What the goal is:

The campers should have an understanding of magnets and how compasses use them to orient us north.

What the objectives are:

Campers will know how to create a compass using items they may have with them in an emergency and be able to use them to determine cardinal directions around them.

Background for Instructors and Little Einsteins

Certain metals are capable of maintaining a magnetic charge for long periods of time after being exposed to a magnet. Iron (and resultantly sewing needles) make for a particularly good compass because the atoms in the metal align in a parallel pattern when exposed to a magnet and hold that arrangement. The (magnetic) north pole has a negative charge and positively charged atoms in an iron needle will be drawn to it. If someone is in a pinch without a compass, all they need is something that floats, a small piece of iron, a bowl of water, and a magnet.

What you’ll need:

• Refrigerator magnet (do not store near your compasses)

• Printer paper (or leaf)

• Sewing needle

• Bowl of water

What you’ll do:

1. Show the campers that compasses are attracted to magnets by holding one close to a refrigerator magnet and slowly dragging it around the circumference. The needle will point at the magnet rather than north (whether the north-facing side or the south-facing side will be pulled to the magnet depends on the net charge of the magnet you use).

2. Explain that sometimes even natural magnets, like a geological feature, can also impact the way a compass points.

3. Give each camper paper and a small circular object (like a water bottle lid, a salt shaker, etc.) to trace.

4. Cut out the circle and fold it in half. On the crease, label the top and bottom of the paper with north and south. Alternatively, a relatively round leaf can be used with the midrib acting as the line.

5. Rub the pointed end of the needle on a magnet for 15-20 seconds.

6. Place the needle with the point toward the “south” label and set it in the bowl. The needle is now polarized (has a charge) and will slowly reorient to point toward magnetic north.

7. Placing a real compass next to yours will reveal that it really works!

**If you’re floating object touches an edge of the bowl, it may stop rotating prematurely.