Today, We're Making:

• - DIY Sundial
• - "Sundial Geometry": Understanding and applying basic geometric principles to create a DIY Sundial. Requires a flat piece of cardboard, a pencil, a protractor, and markers. A fun way to learn about angles, time, and the movement of the sun.
• - "Seasonal Sundial Project": Create different sundials to represent each season of the year. Incorporate elements specific to each season to decorate the sundial base. This project would explain how the position of the sun changes with each season.
• - "Human Sundial": This experiential project involves the use of the child's own shadow to tell time.

Have you ever wondered how our ancestors managed to tell time before the invention of the clock?

This weekend, tap into the timeless beauty of solar timekeeping with a fun outdoor science activity that will get everyone in the house involved. Through the art of creating your very own DIY sundial, not only will you explore an ancient system of time-tracking, it will also serve as an amazing outdoor learning experience. This interactive science project is more than just an educational fun, it's a hands-on journey back in time.

Whether you're a parent looking to spice up an afternoon of homeschooling, or a craft enthusiast exploring new territory, these sundial instructions will guide you through every step.

Let the shadows guide you through the hours of the day as we delve into making a sundial. Prepare to transform your garden into an outdoor classroom setting hinged on astronomy crafts!

Let’s dive in.

First Things First: Gathering Your DIY Sundial Resources

You'll certainly need some relatively simple materials that can likely be found around your house. These include a stick, some pebbles, and something to write with. Of course, you'll also need a sunny outdoor space to serve as your open-air laboratory!

A Key Aspect of This Outdoor Science Activity

The real-time interaction with nature, so selecting a spot where sunshine is abundant, will be critical. This selection could also lead to a thoughtful discussion about sun patterns and the rotation of the earth.

If you're a teacher or a parent, this will naturally emerge as a teaching moment. If you're just trying this out for fun as an adult, well, there's never a wrong time to refresh your memory, right?

Ready, Set, Go: Making a Sundial

Once your materials are set - it's time to start making a sundial! This is a highly engaging activity as you'll literally be racing against the sun.

Your Sundial Instructions Step In

Secure your stick or pole in the ground, standing upright in your selected sunny location. This will function as the gnomon - the part of a sundial that casts the shadow. Mind you, accuracy is important here - having your gnomon perfectly upright would improve the precision of your DIY Sundial. So, as the Earth spins on its axis, the shadows will shift positions around your gnomon. Meanwhile, the pebbles create a crucial visual aid for mapping the movement of the shadows hourly.

Edge into Solar Timekeeping: Track the Shadow Hourly

This is where time-tracking activity gives a magical touch to this outdoor learning experience. Every hour, mark the endpoint of the shadow with a pebble, then write the time next to it.

It’s a great exercise to teach children how to read the shadows and understand the concept of time, even when there's no clock in sight. It helps them appreciate the natural symmetry and predictability within the chaos of our universe. It's the hands-on science experiment we could all use, filling the day with a bit of learning and a lot of fun.

An Interactive Science Project

This interactive science project is unique in its ability to merge the ancient practice of solar timekeeping with the excitement of doing a DIY project.

There you have it—a step towards hopping into the unique, ancient practice of solar timekeeping.

Moreover, being able to craft your own DIY sundial not just aids in understanding the concept of time, but illuminates the inherent intricacies of our universe. This engaging outdoor science activity fosters curiosity, strengthens observational skills, and nurtures a budding appreciation for nature's rhythms.

Be reminded of the marvels of astronomy and the fun in understanding it through your homemade observatory. Let's revive storytelling in the shadows; let's give time a new dimension, with just a stick and a handful of stones. Let's fill each day with wonder as we pay attention to the sky, turn our faces to the sun, and rekindle humanity's age-old connection with cosmic time!

So, why wait? Let your sundial unfold an adventure in your backyard, while nature's clock ticks on.

Here’s to growing, learning, and enjoying―one shadow at a time.

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Sundial Geometry: DIY Sundial Experiment

A fun and educational experiment where we apply basic geometric principles to create a DIY Sundial. This activity is ideal for children to grasp the basics of geometrics and the concept of time simultaneously.

Materials Needed:

• A flat piece of cardboard
• A protractor
• A pencil
• A ruler
• Scissors
• A straw or a thin stick
• Adhesive (Tape/Glue)

Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare The Base

Take your flat piece of cardboard and cut it into a circle or a square using the scissors. This will be the base of your sundial.

Step 2: Draw the Lines

Using your ruler and pencil, draw straight lines from the center of the circle or square to its edge to create your sundial markings. The lines should be approximately 15 degrees apart. Use your protractor to ensure accuracy.

Step 3: Attach the Gnomon

The Gnomon is the part of the sundial that casts the shadow. Attach the straw or thin stick to the center of the circle or square (where the lines intersect) using adhesive. The Gnomon should be at a 90-degree angle from the base.

Step 4: Test Your Sundial

Place your sundial in a sunny area. Mark the position of the shadow every hour. Congratulations! You have created your very own sundial!

Note:

For best results, ensure your sundial is placed in a location where it will receive sunlight for the majority of the day.

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Pencil Light Refraction Experiment

Ingredients:

• A pencil
• A clear glass or plastic cup
• Water

Instructions:

1. Fill the glass. Start by filling the glass or plastic cup about three quarters full with water.
2. Observe the pencil. Hold the pencil straight up and down and look at it. Notice its size and shape.
3. Put the pencil in the glass with water. Slowly put the pencil into the water without touching the sides of the glass. Be sure the pencil is still straight up and down just like it was when you were observing it outside the water.
4. Observe again. Look at the pencil through the side of the glass. Pay close attention to the part of the pencil that is underwater. Notice any changes in size and shape. Discuss your findings with your child.
5. Explain light refraction. The pencil appears to be bigger and bent when observed through the water due to a phenomenon called light refraction. This happens when light passes from one medium (air) into another (water) and bends or ‘refracts’.

STEM Experiment: Learning How to Use a Protractor

This simple yet effective experiment will demonstrate how a protractor is used to measure angles. This experiment is perfect for students learning geometry in STEM.

Ingredients:

• A protractor
• A piece of paper
• A pencil or pen
• A ruler

Instructions:

1. Place the piece of paper on a flat surface.
2. Using the ruler, draw two intersecting lines on the paper with your pen or pencil.
3. Place the centre point of the protractor at the vertex where the two lines meet.
4. Ensure that one line goes along the baseline of your protractor. This line is considered as a zero-degree line.
5. Start reading the protractor from the zero on the baseline.
6. Follow the numbers and lines on the protractor to where the second line crosses it. This will give you the measure of the angle.
7. Note down this measurement on your paper.
8. Repeat the process with different angles to practice using the protractor.

Tips and Tricks:

• Ensure the protractor is lined up correctly before reading the angle.
• Practice makes perfect so don’t worry if you make mistakes, just keep trying!

Fun With Angles STEM/Experiment Instructions

Objective:

This experiment aims to help children understand angles in a fun and interactive approach using markers and paper.

Ingredients:

• Markers (various colors)
• Large sheets of paper (at least one per child)
• A protractor
• Sticky notes

Instructions:

1. Set up the paper: Distribute a sheet of paper to each child.
2. Draw a straight line with the marker: Ask each child to draw a straight line across their paper. This will be the starting point from which the angles will be drawn.
3. Identify 90-degree angle: Demonstrate what a right angle (90 degrees) looks like using the proctor and have each child draw several right angles along their line, using different colored markers for each angle.
4. Identify acute and obtuse angles: Explain and show with the protractor the difference between acute (less than 90 degrees) and obtuse (more than 90 degrees) angles. Repeat the process, having each child draw several acute and then several obtuse angles along their lines, using different colors for each.
5. Label the angles: Have the children label their angles with sticky notes, specifying the degrees for each angle. This step requires children to use the protractor and thereby get practical experience looking at and measuring angles.
6. Review: Finally, review the experiment. Visit each child, ask them to identify the angle types on their paper, and discuss any discrepancies or questions they might have.

STEM/Experiment Instructions for Parents

1. Seasonal Sundial Project

Ingredients:

• 4 large flat stones or concrete pavers
• Stone or concrete adhesive
• 12 small stones or pebbles (for marking hours)
• 4 seasonally-inspired crafts items (e.g. painted leaves, snowflakes, etc.)
• A permanent marker

Instructions:

1. Choose a sunny spot in your garden, where each sundial will get plenty of sunlight throughout the day.
2. Position your large stones or pavers where you want each seasonal sundial to be.
3. Use the adhesive to secure a small stone or pebble at the top of each large stone or paver to act as the gnomon (the part of the sundial that casts the shadow).
4. Every hour, for a full day, mark the end of the shadow with another small stone or pebble. Use your permanent marker to write the hour next to each mark.
5. Decorate each sundial base with seasonally-inspired crafts items to represent the four seasons.
6. This project will illustrate the changing position of the sun throughout the year, as the shadow moves differently from seasons to season.

2. Human Sundial Project

Ingredients:

• A sunny day
• Chalk
• A flat, paved outdoor space

Instructions:

1. Select a sunny spot on a paved space.
2. Have the child stand in the spot at the start of each hour.
3. Mark the shadow cast by the child with chalk, being sure to also mark the child's feet.
4. Write down the time next to each shadow mark using chalk.
5. Repeat this process throughout the day, each hour, if possible, this will create a series of different times and corresponding shadow positions on your "Human Sundial".
6. This activity will help your child visualize how the sun’s position in the sky changes what time it is during the day.