Earth's Magnetic Field
And Using Compasses
What is Earth's Magnetic Field you ask? Earth's Magnetic Field is a sort of shield that protects Earth from violent storms and winds caused by the Sun. Imagine the Earth with a big magnetic bar inside it. But what does this have to do with a compass? A compass is made to point to the north if you are in the Northern Hemisphere and south if your in the Southern Hemisphere. Say you live in the Northern Hemisphere and you have a compass, you want to go north so you line up the red arrow with the N for north, and walk in that direction. If you live the Southern Hemisphere you do the opposite and point the red arrow to the S to go south. They are the opposite because the big magnetic bar attracts magnets that are the closes to either side, north or south. But what if you don't want to go North or South? If you have a compass and can determine where north or south is than you can tell that to the right of north is east and to the left of north is west.
Compasses are easy to use if you have the right training. Here is a good game to practice the four directions!
North, South, East, and West!
This button will take you to a world where you can sing your heart out!