Summarize the following:
The makeshift watch compass described in this article uses the position of the sun in the sky to determine North and South. Because the sun is in a different part of the sky in the Northern Hemisphere (the part of the earth north of the equator) than it is in the Southern Hemisphere (the part of the earth south of the equator), it's important to account for this difference to ensure your compass is accurate. It's usually easy to tell whether you're in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere simply by virtue of knowing what country you're in (for instance, The Southern Hemisphere includes most of South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Australia). If you're at home (or otherwise near civilization), use a map, a globe, or an online geographical resource to find your position relative to the equator. If you're truly lost - for instance, in a life raft in the middle of the ocean, you may not have access to maps, encyclopedias, or the internet. Luckily, if you're deep in the wilderness and you don't know which hemisphere you're in, you can still determine whether you're in the Northern or Southern hemisphere by searching for Polaris, the North Star, in the night sky. This star is visible from the Northern Hemisphere, but if you're even slightly below the equator in the Southern Hemisphere, you won't be able to to see it. Note that the watch compass described in this article works best in the Autumn and Spring and can be inaccurate near the equator.
Use a map to find your hemisphere at home. Use the North Star to find your hemisphere in the wilderness.