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. It may be included in a unit on the Earth’s interior.
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
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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.
