The Navigator's Magnet

Turn a sewing needle into a compass and steer a spice ship by it.

The ship's compass is gone and the kit bag has spilled across the deck. You have one bar magnet. Before you can build anything, you need to know which of these scraps a magnet will even hold, so you test them one by one.

  • Which things does a magnet grab?
  • Where the pull lives: two poles, always
  • The magnet that finds north
  • Make your own compass
  • Push or pull: the rolling magnet
  • Right through the wall
  • Stow the magnets safely
  • Boss round: the captain's six questions