Vocabulary - Making A Compass printable pdf download

Vocabulary - Making A Compass

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Vocabulary

STUDENT RESOURCE 6.1

INFORMATION SHEET

compass a tool used to ﬁ nd direction

Earth’s magnetic poles the poles of the

A compass contains a magnet (the

magnetic ﬁ eld that surrounds Earth

needle) that can turn freely. The north

The magnetic north pole of Earth

pole of a compass needle is a north-

is located about 1200 miles away from

seeking pole. So, the north pole of the

Earth’s geographic north pole. The

compass magnet points toward Earth’s

north-seeking pole of a compass is

magnetic north pole. Compasses were

attracted to the magnetic north pole.

once very useful to people traveling

around the world. They still are, but

now we also have other tools to ﬁ nd

direction.

Earth’s geographic poles the

northernmost and southernmost points

on the globe

Earth rotates around an imaginary

line called an axis. This axis runs through

Earth’s center from north to south. The

northern end of the axis marks Earth’s

geographic north pole. The southern

end of the axis marks Earth’s geographic

south pole.

MAGNETS AND ELECTROMAGNETISM • SECTION 6 MAKING A COMPASS

Vocabulary - Making A Compass