Compass Drawings

Crackers and the teddy bears' pal Oscar usually plan their walks just using a map to see where they want to go and what places they will pass on the way.

They also sometimes use a compass and the other bears have been asking to be shown how a compass works. Harry was sure that he knew that it was used to draw circles, but Oscar explained that for drawing circles he would use a 'pair of compasses', not a compass. Harry hadn't known there was a difference!

Crackers sat them all down so he could explain what a compass was for. A compass is a tool for finding direction.

A simple compass is a magnetised needle swinging on a short pin in a round case. The coloured end of the needle always points North because the earth is one huge magnet, with 2 poles, one at each end (the North Pole and the South Pole - though the Magnetic Poles are slightly to one side of the actual Poles) and the magnetised needle will line up with them. The round case sits on a flat piece of see-through plastic. One very important thing is that a compass may give false readings if you use one near metal objects such as mobile phones, keys, wristwatches, etc, as these things will deflect the magnetic needle.