Summary
The Fixies — tiny helpers who live inside our machines — reveal how a compass uses a tiny magnet that always lines up to point north. A quick full episode (about 6 minutes) from the how-things-work cartoon, easy to drop into a science or STEM warm-up.
Viewer safety
All ages
Common Sense Media — not yet ratedIMDb Parents Guide — not yet rated
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
This episode shows how a compass uses a tiny magnet that always lines up to point north.
- What makes the compass needle always point the same way?
- How could a compass help someone who is lost?
- What is the difference between north, south, east, and west?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: compass, magnet, needle, north, direction.
Try it: Find north with a real compass or a compass app, then point to each of the four directions.