Title: Making Compasses

Authors: Josie Calamaio, Katie Law, Joselyn Mays

Grade: 5^th

NE Standards:

8.2.1 By the end of eighth grade, students will develop the abilities needed to do scientific inquiry.

Integrated Discipline:

Art

 Objectives:

§       Students will demonstrate scientific understanding by:

        Explaining/listing the essential parts of the compass.

        Designing and constructing their own compass.

        Successfully drawing how a compass works.

 Assessment:

Use Inspiration to organize facts they have learned about compasses.

 Materials:

Petri dish

Iron nail

Magnet

Real compass

Styrofoam

Red nail polish

Water

Procedures:

 T: Have gophers retrieve all necessary materials.

 T: Fill Petri dishes with water.

 S: Stroke nail with magnet 20 times to magnetize.

 S: paint the one end of the nail red to distinguish North from South.

 S: Push the nail diagonally through the flat piece of styrofoam.

 S: Place in water filled Petri dish.

Anticipatory Set:

Give a brief history of compasses.  Explain why sailors first used them, and explain how the device works.  Tell students that magnetic north is located near the northern islands of Canada, but moves a few miles from year to year.  Then explain that they will each be making a homemade compass.  Ask them to predict if they think it will be accurate.

Vocabulary:

Compass

Petri dish

Magnetic north

Accuracy

Navigation

Prediction

Activities:

Give a mini history lesson.  Make predictions and then design and make a compass.

Provision for Special Needs:

Pair students with a peer helper.

Closure:

Students are asked to share their design, prediction, and tell if their compass was accurate.

References/Sources:

http://askeric.org/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Earth Science/EAR0071.html