Whatyou’llneed

Sun–thisactivitycanonlybedoneonasunnyday

Aplaceinyourhomethatisinthesunallday

Aclock,watchorphonetotellthetime

Card–suchasanemptycerealbox

Overview

SUNDIAL

Canyoutellthetimewithoutlookingatyourwatchorphone?Thisactivityusessomecard,twopencilsand

somestickytacktoletyoutellthetimeusingtheSun.

Thispagewillprint,butlooksalittlefunky.ClickthebuttonforaPDFversionwhichlooksabitbetter.

Printableversion

Card–suchasanemptycerealbox

Adinnerplateorlargishcircletodrawaround

2pencils

Scissors

Stickytack

Felttipsorothercolouringmaterialsifyouwanttodecorateyoursundial

Suitablefor:

Age3up

Duration:

Awholesunnyday

Safetynotes

Youknowyourchildrenbetterthananyone,andyoushouldjudgewhetherthey’rereadyforthisactivity.

Youmightwanttothinkinparticularabout:

Alwaystakecarewhenusingscissors.

Takecarewithsharppencils.

Supervisechildrenusingpencilstomakeholes.

WhattodoStep1

Step2

Firstofall,openupandflattenyourboxifyouneedto.Drawaroundyourplatetomakeacircle.

Step3

Step4

Cutoutyourcircle.Stickyourlumpofstickytacktothecentreoftheundersideofyourcircle.

Turnyourcircleover.Stickyourpencilthroughthecentreofthecircleintoyourstickytack.Yourbaseis

ready.

Step5

Step6

Youwillneedtostartmarkingthehoursonyoursundialasearlyasyoucaninthemorning.

Onthehour(e.g.exactly8am)putyoursundialsomewhereinyourhomethatisinthesunasmucoftheday

aspossible.

Lookwheretheshadowfallsonyoursundialbase,andmarkthiswithapencil.Writeonthetimenexttoyour

mark.

Thenleaveyoursundialexactlywhereitis(thisisreallyimportant!),andyoumightwanttosticky-tackit

downsothatitdoesn’tgetmoved.

Afteranhour,checkyoursundialagain.Youshouldseethattheshadowhasmoved.Markwheretheshadow

fallsnowonyoursundial.Writethetimenexttothismark.

Again,leaveyoursundialinplace.

Step7

Step8

Checkyoursundialeveryhourandmarkthepositionoftheshadowonyoursundialeachtime.Rememberto

writethetimenexttothemark.

Dothisuntilaslateasyoucanintheday.

Thenextdayyouwillbeabletotellthetimebyseeingwheretheshadowfalls.Youneedtoputthesundial

backinthesameplaceorrememberwhichdirectionyoursundialwasfacingwhenyoumadeittomakesureit

tellstherighttime.

Youcandecorateyoursundialifyouwantto.

Whattimewasitwhenthisphotographofthesundialwastaken?

Thingstodiscuss

Whydoestheshadowmove?

Whyistheshadowlongerattimesandshorteratothertimes?

Whydoyouneedtopointthesundialinthesamedirectioneachtimeyouuseittotellthetime?

Howitworks

Shadowsformwhenlightisblockedbyanobject.Forthisinvestigation,thelightyouareusingtravelsfrom

theSunandisblockedbythepencilofyoursundial.TheshadowfallsoppositetowheretheSunisinthesky.

AlthoughtheSunappearstomoveacrossthesky,itisactuallytheearththatisrotatingwhichcausesthesun

tolooklikeit’smoving(findoutmoreherehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zkynvcw).

Overadayweseeapattern:thesunrisesintheeastandinthemorningastheSunisrising,yourshadows

werelong,andpointtothewest.At12noon,theSunappearsatitshighestinthesky,theshadowsareat

theirshortest.Intheafternoon,theSunisinthewestandtheshadowspointtotheeast.Theshadowsget

longerandlongeruntiltheSunsetsinthewest.

Otherthingstotry

Observetheshadowsusingtoys

Youwillneed:

3or4toys,

chalk(ifoutside)

paperandapenorpencil(ifinside)

Placeyourtoyssomewheresunnyandthenusethepencilorchalktodrawtheoutlineoftheirshadows.

Leavethetoysandcomebackanhourlater.Drawaroundthenewshadow.

Dothesamethinglateroninthedayandseehowtheshadowshavemovedagain.

Observetheshadowsusingtoys

Step1

Step2

MoreSTEMatHome

Thingstodiscuss

Whichwayhaveyourshadowsmoved?

Haveyourshadowsgrownlongerorshorter?

Haveyourshadowsgrownwiderornarrower?

Isthereanythingthatyounoticedaboutthewidth,lengthandpositionoftheshadows?

Tweet

Sharethis:

Careerslink–Astronomer

Todayyou’vebeenexploringthelightthat’scomingfromtheSun,ourneareststar.Astronomersarealso

interestedinthelightthatcomesfromstars.Insteadoflookingatshadows,theyusetelescopestolookfar

outintospaceandlearnaboutthestarsthatyoucanseeinthenightsky.Thelightfromthosedistantstars

cantellusmanythings:whatastarismadefrom,howbigitis,orhowolditis.

Attributes:observant,tenacious,collaborative

NEWSLETTER

Your email address *

Are you… *

School name, or enter ‘none' *

Subscribe!

Wesendoutnewslettersinfrequently,youcanoptoutatanytime,andwewon’tpassyourdetailsontoanyoneelse.Thereare

currently530subscribers.Yourdetailswillbeheldinaccordancewithour privacypolicy,andyoucanunsubscribeatanytime.

LEGALPOLICIES&NOTICES

PrivacyNotice&Cookies

Disclaimer

GETINVOLVED

PlanningyourVisit

GetInvolved

PartnerSchools

META

Login

Entriesfeed

Commentsfeed

WordPress.org

©NorthumbriaUniversity2014-20

Thissiteusescookies.Bycontinuingtobrowsethesite,youareagreeingtoouruseofcookies.

OK Moreinfo