NCERT Book Class 6 Science (Curiosity) Chapter 4 Exploring Magnets

Chapter
4 Exploring Magnets

Reshma lives in a coastal town of
Kerala and is very fond of writing
short stories. Her grandmother
loves listening to her stories, so
Reshma was writing a new story
to share with her grandmother
on her 60th birthday.

The story was based on a ship
carrying spices from Kerala for
trade in the olden days. Reshma
was aware that in those days,
the sailors used stars to find
directions at night. But in her
story, a situation arose wherein
the sailors got caught in a storm
with an overcast sky and stars
were not visible. Reshma could not take her story forward
as she could not think of a way for sailors to find directions.
She searched for information on the internet and her
school library. She learnt that the travellers used a device,
known as a magnetic compass, for finding
directions.
Reshma had seen pencil boxes and
purses which had magnets to keep them
closed. A writing board in her school
also had a duster with a magnet. But
she had never looked at those carefully.
She now became curious to learn more
about magnets and magnetic compasses.