The present paper is based on our graduate lectures in condensed-matter physics. We found that the mean-field solution of the Hubbard model is an excellent tool to stimulate students' reflections towards the treatment of realistic magnetic interactions. We show by detailed analytical and numerical calculations how to find the mean-field solution of the model on a square lattice. We then interpret the physical implications of the ground-state magnetic phase diagram in terms of the electron density and the ratio between the Coulomb repulsion and the electron-structure bandwidth.