Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am an ESL teacher currently in Quito Ecuador and I live with family friends here. Their 12 year old son has until Monday to build either:
1) a compass that is circa 1400s Spanish.
2) a sextant that is circa 1400s Spanish (but they weren´t invented yet so may be an astrolab, unclear)
3) you don't even want to know this one! unreal expectations

We have been all over the net and cannot find any instructions that even come close. Lots of false trails.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Pat

Pat wrote:I am an ESL teacher currently in Quito Ecuador and I live with family friends here. Their 12 year old son has until Monday to build either:
1) a compass that is circa 1400s Spanish.
2) a sextant that is circa 1400s Spanish (but they weren´t invented yet so may be an astrolab, unclear)
3) you don't even want to know this one! unreal expectations

We have been all over the net and cannot find any instructions that even come close. Lots of false trails.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Pat

Hi, Pat!

Can you get better requirements from the teacher? Is the object to build something using the same materials as were used in the 1400s? The same technologies?

I searched for "history of the compass" on Google and found a couple of sites that provide general information. OEn of them may lead to a better source of information:

http://inventors.about.com/library/inve ... ompass.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass

Another site that has little content worth mentioning includes the following quote:

"by the end of the 13th century, the English had mounted a needle on a pin, the basis of the compass as understood today."

Perhaps the answer is a simple as building a compass from a thin rectangular piece of magnetized steel balanced on the point of a pin? I can only speculate on this. The requirements as stated so far are too vague for me to really say what you need to do to satisfy them.

If you can get more information, we may be able to provide additional assistance.

Hi Brian and thank you.
To answer some of your Qs, yes to using same ( or close to ) materials, no to same technology, thankfully.

I also in my searching found that quote! Would that it were that simple, but José's teacher wants 15thC Spanish compass. As his mother says, these projects are not for the students, they are for their parents. Considering how hard Ecuadorian parents work, demanding these types of projects be done in one weekend is unbelievably ignorant.
thanks again
Pat

Pat wrote:Hi Brian and thank you.
To answer some of your Qs, yes to using same ( or close to ) materials, no to same technology, thankfully.

I also in my searching found that quote! Would that it were that simple, but José's teacher wants 15thC Spanish compass. As his mother says, these projects are not for the students, they are for their parents. Considering how hard Ecuadorian parents work, demanding these types of projects be done in one weekend is unbelievably ignorant.
thanks again
Pat

Hi, Pat!

I am at a loss to provide additional assistance at this point. If we had better requirements than "build a 15thC compass" we'd have more to go on. As it is, I think I'd go with the magnetized strip balanced on a pin.

Best wishes! Write back if you have adiditonal questions and we'll try to help.

Kindest regards,
Brian