Lay of the Land – Make Your Own Compass

How to Make a Compass
PDF Instructions

Normally, compasses use North, South, East, and West to navigate.
At home, you can make a compass that uses Left, Right, Ahead, and Behind.

1. Cut a circle out of paper, and write “Ahead” at the top of it, and “Behind” at the bottom.
2. On the Left side (where the “W” is on the picture of the compass), write “Left,” and on the opposite side, write “Right.”
3. Decorate your compass however you like.

Go on an adventure!

Once you’ve made your compass, choose a location to explore. Will it be inside your house? Your backyard?

On your adventure plan, write down five or more random numbers (all below 20).

Next, write directions next to each number. Left, Right, Forward, or Backward.

Now use your compass to find out where you’ll end up! Take the number of steps you’ve written in the directions you’ve  written next to the numbers. Or give your instructions to a friend or sibling!

About Lay of the Land:

You are here! The exhibit orients visitors in time and place through an installation of maps, spanning time immemorial to present day. Lay of the Land invites all visitors to understand our complex relationship to the land, past and present, and to the place that we now call Guelph.