Map Direction
Compiled by Mark Francek (more info) at Carleton College (SERC) and Central Michigan University
Find animations highlighting how direction can be distorted by magnetic declination.
The Effects of Working in a Magnetic Field, San Diego State University: This Flash animation delves into magnetic declination, the angle between magnetic north and true north. To see declination values, enter your locale declination in the input box (positive for east declination, negative for west declination). The true north on the frame will then reset to take into account inputted values, with true north shifting to the east for positive values and to the west for negative values. If you don't know your current declination access it from the
National Geophysical Data Center. Note that the compass is a Brunton compass with azimuth values increasing in a counterclockwise fashion. To access this animation, access the table on contents by clicking anywhere on the introduction screen, then on "Table on Contents" page, and finally the "Magnetic Declination" section. Advance to "page 18."
Magnetic North, StepsTech.com: This simple animated GIF shows how a compass is aligned to a magnet. This provides a good introduction to use of the compass and for pointing out that there are differences between magnetic, grid, and true north. Show this animation before the animation on magnetic declination.
