The document discusses the Earth's magnetism. It explains that the Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet with a north and south magnetic pole. These magnetic poles are different from the geographic north and south poles and move about 10 km each year. The Earth's core is made of iron, a magnetic material, and its liquid outer core circulating around generates the planet's magnetic field through a process called the dynamo theory. The Earth's magnetic field protects the atmosphere from the sun's charged particles and is responsible for the northern and southern lights by trapping and directing solar particles toward the poles.

1. Earth’s Magnetism Mr. Bradford

2. Magnetic Basics Magnets always have two poles: a north pole and a south pole. North and South are always attracted. Two similar poles will repel one another.

3. Earth as a Magnet The Earth is like a giant bar magnet—it has a north magnetic pole and a south magnetic pole. These are different than the geographic north and south poles. The magnetic poles move a little (10 km) each year.

4. Why is Earth Magnetic? Earth’s core is iron, a magnetic material Earth’s outer core is liquid iron. When this liquid iron circulates around the core, a magnetic field is developed. This is known as the Dynamo Theory

5. What Benefit is a Magnetic Field? The Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the sun’s charged particles. The magnetic field acts like a force field—without it, our atmosphere would be ripped off.

6. Northern and Southern Lights The Earth’s magnetic field is the reason we have Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis (northern and southern lights). These are caused by charged particles from the sun that get trapped in Earth’s magnetic field and get directed towards the northern and southern ends of the Earth. The charged particles, when they reach our atmosphere will interact with the elements (Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc.) and give off lights that dance and swirl in the sky.