Lodestone Compass
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Lodestone Compass
Yorkshire Teachers
Download film (right-click)Adult , Demonstration , Earth Science & Environment , Explanation , Physics
Trying to use a lump of magnetic rock to navigate around… a carpark?
Director's Notes:
This film didn’t quite go to plan. Sure, the lodestone rock managed (just!) to support the paperclip, and the little teacup compass worked indoors. But outdoors, the wind blew the compass into the side of the cup, and everything fell apart.
This, then, is the team’s valiant effort to salvage a film from the wreckage of their original plans. What do you think?
SciCast Notes:
This is a classic example of what happens when you spend a long time planning what you want in careful detail… only to have your plans thrown out as soon as you start the camera. The group wanted to illustrate how people used to use pieces of lodestone to navigate; they’ve ended up illustrating precisely how hard it is to use a lump of rock as a navigation aid, highlighting how remarkable it is that anybody ever worked out where they were going.
So while the film’s disjointed, and the style keeps changing, I rather like it.
— Jonathan