See How They Attract and Repel
Take one of the magnetized needles and hang it with a thread. A thread stirrup (Figure 4) will help keep it level. Be sure it is not near other large pieces of steel. Watch the needle. Does it settle down, pointing in one direction? (Check to see if this is the same direction as your compass). If it does, you have made a compass. The tip of the needle pointing north is called the North Pole (North-seeking pole). The other end is called the South Pole. Mark the North Pole with a stroke of the red marking pencil. Mark the South Pole black. Do the same thing with the second needle. You can show this with a sewing needle, and a notched cork, and a bowl of water. Rest the needle in the notched cork, and float it on the water.
Figure 4
Hold the compass near the North Pole of the needle. What happens? Does the South Pole of the needle attract the North or South Pole of the compass? Try this with the second magnetized needle. See if you can prove the rule that like poles repel (drive away) and unlike poles attract.
Figure 5
Connect one end of a wire loop to the battery and run the wire directly over the compass. Touch the other end of the wire to the battery. Which way does the compass point now? If you get some motion out of the compass needle, this proves there is a magnetic field around the wire when current is flowing. This relation between electricity and magnetism is the thing that makes electric motors and generators work.
Figure 6