STEM Inspiration: Magnets

STEMspiration – MAGNETS

COMPASS

We’ve used the Wobbel 360 to make a supersized compass today. The Plan Toys Braille alphabet tiles mark out North, South, East and West. Then we’ve added pieces from the Grimm’s forest to illustrate the points of a compass.

The brilliant part of this activity is that the Wobbel 360 spins freely so our little ones had lots of fun trying to line up the needle to find North.

The coloured point of the compass needle will always align with the magnetic field in the same direction because it has its own magnetic properties. It aligns along the North South axis.

We talked about how compasses are essential for navigation. As long as you know where North is you can read a map and find your way.

MAGNETIC FIELDS

A compass will react to a magnetic field so we had lots of fun interfering with the earth’s magnetic field and used our Tegu blocks to see if we could trick the compass into pointing different direction.

It turns out we didn’t need to bring the Tegu blocks very close at all, just to the edge of the wobbel and we could manipulate the needle into pointing the opposite direction. Confusing the needle and making it spin was  great fun for our little ones!

FUN FACT

During a geomagnetic storm from the sun, compasses will be inaccurate. They happen fairly frequently, once every couple of months and they last up to a few minutes!

THERE IS STILL TIME TO ENTER

You can find out all about the current STEM challenge >here< and you have a week left to enter to try and win a Wodibow Woonki magnetic figure.

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