• Clear glass filled with water       
• Quarter-inch (one-half-centimeter) slice from the end of a cork       
• Magnet
• Needle

1. Float the cork in the glass of water.
2. Magnetize the needle by rubbing it over the magnet in the same direction about 50 times.
3. Lay the needle on cork.
4. The needle will slowly turn and point in the same direction, no mater how many
times you point it in another direction.

Once magnetized, the needle lines up with the Earth’s north and south magnetic poles just as a magnetized pointer in a compass would.