Compass Skills Teacher Resources

Students use a compass and their hands to find positions of stars and planets in the night sky or of the sun during the day.

Students take a reading with a compass and use the compass to reach multiple checkpoints in a scavenger hunt activity.

Navigate the world of orienteering in an informative interactive. Earth science scholars learn practical direction skills, such as proper polar coordinates and pairing compasses with maps. The interactive map allows them to practice...

What's cooking? A sizzling STEM unit challenges scholars to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. The unit opens with a study of Earth's rotation, the sun's energy, and shadows. Pupils use a compass and thermometer to...

A neighborhood map is a great way to practice compass rose and key skills! Use these 2 worksheets to introduce these concepts through reading and comprehension activities. First, students look at 3 compasses, circling their favorite and...

In this polygon learning exercise, students identify and create a six-pointed star by completing 6 steps. First, they use a compass to trace a circle with a given radius. Then, students draw a point on circumference of the circle and...

In this angle bisector worksheet, young scholars solve five short answer and multiple choice problems. Students construct angle bisectors using a compass.

Magnetic fields might not be a field of dreams but they are useful. Class members observe the reactions of magnetic fields using a compass, iron filings in a paper container, and iron filings suspended in mineral oil. 

Keep your class headed in the right direction with this printable compass rose. Large and easy to read with a smiling picture of Arthur in the middle, this resource would make a fun addition to the desk of any primary grade...

Class members use a compass and several points to map out the magnetic field of a magnet. Pairs trace the magnetic field lines produced by a permanent magnet by positioning the compass in numerous spots around the magnet to view the...

Learners explore orienteering and how to use a compass. They explore the importance of forests and identify some of the trees in a local forest.

Students determine how to shoot a bearing.  In this compass and orienteering lesson, students review the parts of a compass, practice how to find a bearing and work in groups to practice finding landmark bearings.

Magnets don't grow in fields, but magnetic fields are important to understand. The lesson covers the effect electricity has on magnetic fields. Scholars use a compass, magnets, and electrical wire to test magnetic fields and energy...

Make your own number line ... using a compass. The first installment of a 21-part series has scholars investigate positive and negative integers on a number line by using a compass to construct points that are the same distance from zero...

Why are only four colors needed to color webs from regular pentagons, not five? An assessment task requires young mathematicians to first construct regular pentagons using a compass and straightedge, then has them consider a shape...

Where should the statue be located? The resource explains how to use a compass and straight-edge to construct the perpendicular bisector of a line segment. Using an exam question, the narrator models how to solve an application problem...

How do you use a scale drawing to find the region in a lake where a treasure is located? The narrator of a short video problem identifies three criteria to determine the location of the treasure. Using a compass and ruler, he determines...

There is more than one way to create a 90-degree angle. Using a compass and a straightedge, the video shows two ways to construct a right angle. The ways include using perpendicular bisectors and circle theorems. To wrap up, pupils...

Kids become global anthropologists as they explore commonalities and differences both in their classroom and expanding across the globe. Throughout several activities, learners conduct partner interviews that culminate in Venn diagrams,...

How can you place a rectangular tile around a pipe? Scholars first use a model of a kitchen sink cabinet to take measurements. Using a compass and their knowledge of circles, they then cut out a circle from a piece of poster board (which...

Mark off the length of the radius around the circle. Using a compass, the presenter shows how to construct a regular hexagon in a circle. Pupils see how triangles formed in the hexagon are equilateral, allowing for the construction to...

A middle school students shows us how to accurately copy a polygon on a piece of paper. He uses a compass, ruler, and pencil in order to copy the correct angles and lines. This is a great video to engage your students at the beginning of...

Put your students' orienteering skills together. Reading a compass and reading a map. In this assignment the class will use their compass and the map scale to determine the distance of a given route.  If they finish their...

Travel using a compass. Get your bearings! What does that mean? Choose a starting point, set your bearings, move to a location, and then use your bearings to return to the original starting point. It is of utmost importance to understand...