A compass and A compass rose

             

  

  A compass is a tool that can tell you what direction you are going

A compass rose is a drawing on a map that tells you the directions of places shown on the map

A compass points north because all magnets have two poles , a north pole and a south pole, and the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet. (You may have seen this demonstrated by a pair of simple bar magnets or refrigerator magnets pushed end to end. 

Why is Compass Rose important?

Like the wind rose, the compass rose was coincidentally designed in a fashion that resembled the rose flower. It helped to orient a map in the proper reading direction and gave the relative directions for certain points on the chart. Before compass roses were used on maps, lines were drawn from central points 

How do you know if a compass works?

It should behave like a match floating in the middle of a bowl of water that you twist. How quickly does the needle settle and accurately point north? Ensure it does not 'stick' when settling down to the last couple of degrees. A good compass will have a jewelled pivot bearing 

How do you read a compass rose chart?

All charts have a compass rose, which shows the directions of true north and magnetic north for that particular chart. The outer circle of the compass rose shows true north and the inner circle shows magnetic north, and the variation between the two is shown in the center of the rose