The Earth behaves as if it contains a giant magnet. It produces a magnetic field in which the field lines are most concentrated at the poles. The Earth’s magnetic field affects the needles in compasses.
Emilio showed us a compass which comprises a magnetic needle mounted on a pivot (so it can turn freely) and a dial to show the direction.
Today, Carolina brought magnets too. We can see how they attract or repel depending on the poles we face together.
Bar magnets are permanent magnets. This means that their magnetism is there all the time and cannot be turned on or off. They have two poles: north pole and south pole. The north pole is normally shown as N and the south pole as S.
Attract and repel
If you bring two bar magnets together, there are two things that can happen:
if you bring a north pole and a south pole together, they attract and the magnets may stick together.
if you bring two north poles together, or two south poles together, they repel and the magnets push each other away.