Transcript The Compass - Adams County/Ohio Valley School District

The Compass
Before the Compass people would navigate using the North Star.
(The Big Dipper is sometimes called “The Drinking Gourd,” do you know why?)
Pointer Stars
The Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. Use the two stars at the
bottom of the cup of the big dipper to find Polaris the North Star which
Is at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper.
Underground Railroad
The Compass – The Beginning
FRED
The SHED
NORTH ARROW
Moveable Dial
Put RED in the SHED and Follow Fred.
The dial has numbers on
it. These numbers are the
degrees in a circle = 360.
This dial turns so
you can always
put the RED
north arrow in the
shed located in
the center circle.
Directions for use:
•Hold the Compass flat with Fred pointing away from
you. Never change the way you hold it.
•Point Fred at the place you want to go, or the
direction you want to find.
•Turn the dial until the RED north arrow is in the
shed in the middle of the dial.
•Find the white line under Fred. Read the compass
“bearing” where the dial and the white line meet.
1st Exercise – Circle Round
1
1
18
17
2
3
Proceed
around
the
Circle
16
4
15
5
T
6
14
7
13
Student
8
12
11
10
9
Teacher
2nd Exercise – Straight Line
Have students stand in a straight
line facing NORTH.
Stand about 25 ft. in front of the
line and have all
students point their compass at
you.
Have them call off the readings on
their compasses.
Bearing
• Give the students the following bearing.
180o
• Have the students then “Put Red in the Shed”
(have them turn their bodies, NOT the compass)
• Tell them if they walked that direction (Follow
Fred), they would be walking 180o from North
(which would be South.)
• Ask them what bearing 90o would be.
• Ask them what bearing 270o would be.