Compass+Direction

What is a compass? It's a device that uses the Magnetic North Pole to tell direction. Essentially it uses the earths magnetic field to work. Hold it front of you, turn your body anywhere, and it will tell you the direction you're pointed! It's that easy. A compass is a must have if you are traveling in the wilderness or the open water.

NEVER EAT SHREDDED WHEAT! NORTH EAST SOUTH WEST! That's what a compass rose is, a circle with those points on it.

 That's that's the easiest way to remember the cardinal points of a compass. We read left to right and that's the way a compass goes. North is at the top, East is to the right, South at the bottom and West is to the left.



Now it gets a little more complicated. There are also points in-between each of the cardinal points. After all, if I didn't want you to go quite North but I didn't want you to go directly East, where would you go? For that reason we have another four points. North East, South East, South West, and North West.



That makes 8 points. If we read this compass starting at North and moving to the right, North East, East, South East, South East, South, South West, West, North West, and then we make it back to North

Ok, now it gets a little more complicated, but the same basic concepts are used. What if you need to go somewhere between North and North East? After all, the world is a big place! So we have, North North East in between! In between North East and East we have East North East. In between East and South East we have East South East. In between South East and South we have South South East. In between South and South West we have South South West. In between South West and West we have West South West. In between West and North West we have West North West. In between North West and North we have North North West. Now we're back at North!



Questions 1. What point is between North East and East? 2. What point is in the middle of East and South? 3. What point is in the middle between South South West and West South West? 4. What point is in the middle between West and North? 5. Describe 2 reasons or situations where the full compass rose would be helpful.