Helix Oxford Metal Compass & Pencil, Black

Product Information

The pencil lead draws the circle on a particular paper or material. Alternatively, an ink nib or attachment with a technical pen may be used. The better quality compass, made of metal, has its piece of pencil lead specially sharpened to a "chisel edge" shape, rather than to a point. Perhaps after this lesson the children will be able to use what they have learned and go on scavenger hunts or orienteering activities. At STAEDTLER, our product range includes a large selection of high-quality compasses. Our models are particularly sturdy, providing the ideal basis for creating precise drawings at school and in professional applications. We offer products that meet various requirements, from solid metal to sturdy plastic/metal designs. Our compasses are also available in compact sets with practical accessories. Permanent magnets can come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Bar magnets and horseshoe magnets are two of the most common shapes of magnet. The degree dial is the twistable dial surrounding the compass housing that displays all 360 degrees of the circle.

Earth’s magnetic field protects us from charged particles thrown out from the Sun. As these particles come close to Earth, Earth’s magnetic field deflects them. During the 12th century, Europeans created the compass rose. It enabled the creation of the eight principal winds, which includes the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West) plus the new intercardinal directions; North-East, South-East, South-West, North-West. The main use for compasses were out at sea, as there are no landmarks to help with navigation. Sailors used to use the stars, in particular Polaris, the North star, to help find their way. Though sometimes the sky could be cloudy or stormy, and they wouldn’t be able to tell which way they were heading. This is why compasses are particularly important at sea. Astrocompasses are aligned with fixed points in the sky, for example, stars. These are harder to use than the usual magnetic compass, but are quite useful in polar regions where magnetic and gyrocompasses aren’t so reliable.

Hold the compass flat and near your body, with the big 'direction of travel' arrow pointing straight ahead. Turn yourself and the compass around slowly until the red end of the needle lines up with the orienting arrow, as in the picture. These dividers have a spring attached and allow fast and easy fine-adjustment with their screw. For marking or copying measurement of items. Available in two different sizes. In the northern hemisphere the display is called the northern lights or Aurora borealis . In the southern hemisphere the display is called the southern lights or Aurora australis . The resource gives children a map of a general school with areas included like the staff room, main hall, field and several classrooms. The children can use the compass to work out and practise directional language, including North-west, south-east, to get to their destinations. A lovely and memorable way for children to get confident using directions.

These greatly helped early sailors during their sea voyages to see where they were going. You can also find compasses with roses that have 16 or even 32 points. These include directions such as North-northwest, east-northeast, south-southwest. A pair of compasses is often used as a symbol of precision and discernment. As such it finds a place in logos and symbols such as the Freemasons' Square and Compasses and in various computer icons. English poet John Donne used the compass as a conceit in " A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" (1611). A beam compass (or trammel) offers longer reach and easier adjustment than an ordinary compass. This beam compass is made largely of stainless steel and has a modern look. A refrigerator magnet works well for this purpose. You can also buy plain magnets from craft stores. Always make sure that the orienting arrow is pointing to grid north (the top of the map) rather than grid south (the bottom of the map) – even if you are walking south – the orienting arrow still needs to point north.Focus on points in the distance. To accurately follow the direction of travel arrow, look down at the arrow, then focus on a distant object like a tree, telephone pole, or other landmark, and use this as a guide. Don’t focus on anything too distant, like a mountain, as huge objects aren’t precise enough to navigate by accurately. Once you reach each guide point, use your compass to find another. [7] X Research source

The handle, a small knurled rod above the hinge, is usually about half an inch long. Users can grip it between their pointer finger and thumb. Figure out which way is north. Since the magnetized needle points from north to south, you can't use it to figure out where east and west are located until you know which way is north. Use one of the following techniques to get a sense for which direction is north, then mark that side of the compass with a pen or pencil so you can use it to navigate in other directions: [8] X Research source Understand the basic layout of the compass. While the designs of compasses are different, all compasses include a magnetized needle that orients itself to the magnetic fields in the Earth. The basic field compass, also sometimes called a baseplate compass, features the following simple components you should familiarize yourself with as soon as possible: [1] X Research source A compass is a device that indicates direction. It is one of the most important instruments for navigation.Since one of the points has an eccentric tip, you only need to clamp the heads approximately; loosen the eccentric point and you get up to 3 mm (1/8 inch) of fine adjustment by rotating the point. Comes with two hardened steel points, a pencil, plus the brass and aluminium heads. The direction of travel arrow should still point straight ahead - that's the way you are going, towards B. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 36 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. True North always sits at the top of the Earth. Magnetic North is not a fixed point and changes over time in response to the changes in the Earth’s core. It’s thought that it is situated around 1000 miles away in Canada.

To start with you need to know where you are on the map (point A) and where you want to go to (point B). Rotate the degree dial until the orienting arrow points to true north on the map. This will also align the compass’s orienting lines with the map’s north-south lines. Once the degree dial is in place, put the map away. The Earth is a giant magnet that has two centres of force; the North and South Poles. The core of the planet, which is mainly molten iron, creates a magnetic field as it spins around. This is what makes the north and south magnetic poles and how compasses are able to work. Learn to take a bearing from the map. To find out which direction you need to travel to get somewhere, place the map on a horizontal surface and place your compass on the map. Using the edge of the compass as a ruler, place it so that it creates a line between your current position and where you intend to go. Close to the poles the particles are able to reach the atmosphere. This causes the air to light up in a display called the Aurorae .As engineers and scientists learned more about magnetism, the compass needle was mounted and placed in the middle of a card that showed the cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west. A spearhead and the letter T, which stood for the Latin name of the North Wind, Tramontana, signified north. This combination evolved into a fleur-de-lis design, which can still be seen today. All 32 points of direction were eventually added to the compass card. Compasses are drawing instruments that are primarily used to perform the following tasks in geometry: A compass with a larger base is useful here for covering longer distances, but you can use a straight edge with a smaller compass. Magnetic North refers to the tilt of the magnetic field, about eleven degrees from the tilt of the Earth's axis, making the difference between True North and Magnetic North different by as many as 20 degrees in some places. Depending where you are on the surface of the Earth, you'll have to account for the Magnetic shift to get an accurate reading.