Back to lesson
Magnetic Fields and Navigation
0% Complete
0/0 Steps
Section 4 of 9
In Progress
Experiment | Make Your Own Compass
Approximate time to complete: 10-15 minutes + questions and journal time
About this experiment
In this experiment, you’ll build your own compass using a needle and a magnet. Then, you’ll test it to see which way it points.
What you’ll learn
- Which way compasses point
- Bottle cap or thick paper cut into a small circle
- Paper, pen, scissors (to make labels)
- Small bowl
- Water
- Compass (may use smartphone)
- Needle
- Magnet
- What are the parts of a compass that you know of?
- Can you describe the movement of a compass needle?
Set It Up
- Fill the small bowl with water.
- Cut 4 small pieces of paper and label them North, South, East, and West.
- Use a compass to find North, South, East, and West and place the labels around the bowl.
- Rub the magnet along the needle (base to tip) about 50 times to magnetize it.
- Place your needle on top of the bottle cap or the paper circle.
- If you’re using a paper circle, fold it in half to make a crease in the middle.
Make a Guess
- Which direction do you think the needle will point when you put it into the bowl of water?
Test It!
- Place the needle and bottle cap (or paper circle) into the bowl of water.
- Wait to see which direction the needle points!
- Which direction did the needle point? Did it match your guess?
- Which direction did the tip of the needle point?
- Which direction did the base of the needle point?
- What force was acting on the needle to make it move?