Tee Koss, Age 14, Of Casca, Wisc, for his question:

How do the geographic and magnetic poles differ?

The rotating earth, as we know, spins around an axis  which is a line from top to bottom passing through the exact center of the globe. The two geographic poles are on the surface of the earth, or at each end of the axis.

The earth is also a giant magnet surrounded by an immense magnetic field. Like any small magnet, it has two opposite magnetic poles. These magnetic poles, also, are on the earth's surface. They are large, sprawling areas which tend to shift slowly from p1ace to p1ace. The south magnetic pole is some 15,000 miles from the south geographic pole, directly below sydney, australia. The north magnetic pole is about 1000 miles south of the north pole in northern Canada.