In this lesson, students create a compass and apply their reasoning about magnetism to how compasses work to help us navigate around the globe while utilizing the Earth’s magnetic field.
Context for Use
Project EXTREMES lessons were intended to be stand alone lessons.
Credit: 2009 HowStuffWorks
Goals Header
What Students Will Do
Understand how a compass works.
Materials
User note: To make an editable copy of the teaching materials in Google Drive, select File > “Make a copy”. This will make a copy for you to save to your own drive and edit as you see fit.
Description
Activity 1 – Engage (15 minutes) How does a compass work?
Engage students in discussion about how compass works.
Activity 2 – Explore (30 minutes) Create a compass
Students each create a compass.
Activity 3 – Explain (15 minutes) Class discussion
Students analyze the results of their exploration, and create a model and explanation for how a compass works.
Activity 4 - Elaborate (30 minutes) Navigating Animals
Students research and make a poster about how organisms use magnetoreception to navigate.
Activity 5 - Evaluate (15minutes) Putting it all together
As an assessment students write about and draw models of what they learned in this lesson.
