Good Morning!Yesterday we looked at the map of the United Kingdom and researched our region of East Anglia.Today we are going to be looking at compasses. What do you think compasses are used for? What do they tell you?
Have a think quickly, the answer is coming up!
A compasses lets us know what direction we are going. There are 4 main points of the compass; North, East, South and West. (it has more points but we will focus on the main 4). Think of our region again, where are we with regard to direction?
I would like you to create your own compass. You will need a needle, a magnet (a fridge one will do), paper and pen, a bowl of water.
First you need to magnetise the points of the needle. Rub the magnet on one end of the needle between 30-50 times making sure you rub in the same direction. Reverse the needle and repeat the process making sure you rub in the same direction. Cut a circle from the paper and push the needle through the middle and out the other side. Label one point N for north and the opposite S for South. Pop it in the water and watch it spin. Once it has settled your N should be pointing North. Check with your grown ups as they probably have a compass on their phone!
Have fun, I hope that the experiment works. Let me know.
Mrs Whybrow