Compass and Directions! - Fun way to know where you are!

 

Hello kids! Welcome back to KidsCast! So, have you ever wondered, that what is a Compass, and what are those letters on it: N, E, S, and W? And what are those things which people call directions? Well at the end of this article, you will have the answers to all these questions, and today we'll know about Compass and Directions, which can help you to locate yourself, and see where you have to go! 

The North and South Poles: 

So kids, before discussing what is a compass and what are the directions, let us know something related to it, for better understanding. Our planet earth rotates on its axis. Now, what is the axis? 

Axis is an imaginary straight line, passing through a planet or object, around which the planet or object spins, or rotates. So we know, that the Earth rotates on its Axis. Now, there are two ends to this Axis, the top one is called the North Pole, and the bottom one is called the South Pole. As the earth is not upright or straight and is tilted, it rotates on its axis. And the two points where the axis ends, are known as the poles, the North and South Poles, specifically. And kids, by the way, don't confuse these poles with real poles. These poles are also just imaginary, just to mark the topmost and bottommost points of the earth. 

What are the Directions? 

Now here, kids we have a twist! We need to learn about directions first, so we can exactly know and understand the purpose of a compass. So what do you think of directions? What are they? 

In general, whenever we refer to the word 'directions', it means the way or the point where something moves or has to move or go, or the way or the point something is facing something else. It means, for example, in the sentence: he is walking towards school, thus the direction would be 'towards school', or the child is walking on the way, facing his school. Thus, in other words, the direction is the way to get to one place from another. But what are directions in a compass, or in maps?

In a nutshell, a compass is an instrument which tells us the direction we are facing. So, in a compass and in maps, we cannot tell the directions using sentences like 'facing towards the shop' or in maps we cannot tell the directions as 'facing towards Canada, facing towards China or facing towards Europe'. Thus, we determine, or tell the directions in a compass, or maps with four main elements or letters, which are called as Cardinal Directions. 

Cardinal Directions: 

Cardinal Directions are the points or ways simply used to tell directions in compasses and maps. These directions or points help us to know the way or course from one place to another in compasses, maps and atlas. There are four cardinal directions: North, East, West, and South. Thus, N = North, E = East, S = South, and W = West. These are the four main directions which are called the Cardinal Directions. North Direction is the direction of the north pole from where you are, South Direction is the direction of the south pole from where you are. The directions west and east do not have any specific points, but they are opposite and can help in travelling towards the western or eastern way. 

Easy right? If not, you can remember these for cardinal directions by the sentence: Never Eat Soggy Waffles! (Note: This sentence can only be used to remember in English). 

These four directions, help us to know which point or direction on the earth are we facing, and which direction we have to go. For example, if your school is in the west direction from your house, then you would use the help of knowing the west direction from a map or compass, and then you can go to your school. 

However, apart from just these North, East, South and West, there are certain directions between these directions as well, respectively: North East, South East, South West, and North West. They are used for more accuracy in directions. 

What is a Compass? 

Finally, let us know what is a compass. A compass is a device or an instrument which tells us which direction are we facing. A compass is circular, and it has the cardinal directions and the directions between them on it. It also has a needle, with one side of the needle coloured red, and the other side coloured blue or white. 

This needle in the compass is very very important! This needle tells us the direction of the north and south cardinal directions. In other words, this needle in a compass tells us where is north and where is south. And with the help of this, we can identify where is North, East, South and West as well. 

And you know what is the fun part? Even if you rotate yourself or the compass, the needle will return to the same position. Why? This is because no matter what, the needle of a compass will always point to the North and South direction! How is this possible? Let us find out. 

You see kids, the earth itself behaves like a giant magnet. From the south to the north pole, the whole earth is magnetized. The needle of the compass is also like a magnet. Thus, this needle is always attracted towards the correct directions, of North and South. However, there might be more confusion, and questions about how and why the needle of a compass points only north. We would be learning the answer to this question in detail, in the future! 

Using a Compass: 

Finally, now the last question is, how do we use a compass? We know that the needle of a compass always points north, and as it aligns or rotates itself towards the north direction, we can thus understand that the opposite direction to the North, is South, the direction left to the direction of North, will be West, and the direction to the right from North pointing straight in the direction of East. Now along with a map, we can understand in which direction we have to go if we have a compass, and if we know where we are right now. 

Is a Compass Easily Available? 

Now that you have learnt much about Compasses and directions, you might want to get a compass in real life. Now, the compass is a very common instrument, so you can buy it from any toy or other shop. However, nowadays as smartphones have become a revolutionary electronic devices, many smartphones have a built-in compass app in them, including Android and iPhones. Instead of buying a real compass, you can use these better electronic compasses on your smartphone, which is in the form of an app. It is more accurate than a real compass and is free to use. Also, this compass works in smartphones with the help of a magnetometer in your smartphones, to detect the magnetic field of the earth, uses your location and thus shows the directions! 

Fun Activity: Use a real compass or smartphone compass to know where are you facing right now, while reading this article!

So, kids, this was a short article about Compass and Directions. We hope you liked it and in future, we would be bringing more informative and knowledgeable articles! Till then, Happy finding Directions, and Happy Learning!