Compass Coloring Page

The first compasses were made in China more than 2,000 years ago, and nobody knows who made them. They were pieces of lodestone, a rock that is naturally magnetic, carved into the shape of a spoon and set on a smooth plate. The handle swung around and settled in one direction, and in China that direction was south.

By about the 1100s sailors were using a magnetic needle to find their way at sea. A compass works because the Earth is like a giant magnet and the needle lines up with it. That meant ships could cross the open ocean even when clouds hid the Sun and stars.