Today, I made a sundial and tested it to see whether it works or not. It is Step It Up Extension because it is not a real SLJ activity but it is related to it. It is related to it because in the last activity, it was about creating shadow art where you had to colour the shadow, wait and colour again, as the sun moves across the sky. So a sundial is telling the time through the sun from the direction of the South or North, depending where you are. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, you direct from the true North. If you are from the Southern Hemisphere, you direct from the true South. There is a sundial at Botanic Gardens if you want to have a look.
First thing you have to do is to make a Sundial. Print out a template using the latitude in your area or city. The site that I used was called https://www.blocklayer.com/sundial-pop. Cut, fold and glue it. Decorate it if you like.
Time to test! Using a compass, locate your true Direction whether it is South or North, align your Sundial to that direction and the sun shall tell you the time if on a sunny day.
I enjoyed this activity because I love doing fun thing outside with nature especially on sunny days. I also had Tea, my duckling, somewhere on the grass with me.
My Sundial didn’t match the analogue clock because
- a. It is summer time with daylight saving so it is 1 hour faster
- b. Wellington time zone is based on longitude 180˚ East and the Christchurch longitude 172.6˚ East
- c. Our clock has been 5 minutes faster because I don’t want to be late
Did your Sundial work? Why or why not?