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The film is sped up so changes that took hours happened in just a few seconds. Did you see the people flickering in and out of the picture? They were moving at normal speed, just like the shadows. Return to other videos
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Which direction are you facing when you sit in this chair? North, South, East, or West?
Hint: Watch the shadow and think about what it tells you about the Sun’s movement.
Click here to play video
Here's how we figured it out:
We noticed that the shadow gets shorter and shorter. That means the Sun is rising in the sky. We also saw that the shadow is behind the chair. So the chair is facing the rising Sun. The Sun rises in the East — so When you sit in the chair, you are facing East. Return to other videos
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How is the movement of the clock’s hands like the movement of the shadow?
The clock’s hands and the shadow both move in the direction that we call clockwise. Before clocks were invented, that direction was known as sunwise, because that’s the way the shadow on a sundial moved. When clocks were invented, people made the hands move like the shadow on the sundial. Return to other videos
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# Activity: Moving Shadow Game
Here’s a game to play outside on a sunny day. Find a place where the shadow of a building or wall makes a straight line. Mark that line with chalk.
Ask students to predict where the shadow will be in 15 minutes. Mark their guesses with other colors of chalk.
In 15 minutes, mark where the shadow ended up. How close were the guesses? Try again to see if you can do better.
This game is best when the Sun is low in the sky. Don’t play at noon, when the Sun is high in the sky.
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north
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one of four main directions; when you face north, west is to the left and east is to the right
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south
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one of four main directions; if you are facing north, it is the direction behind you
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east
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one of four main directions; if you are facing north, it is to the right
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west
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one of four main directions; if you are facing north, it is to the left
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sundial
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a tool that tells time by using the changing direction of shadows caused by the Sun's movement across the sky
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“I teach a mild to moderate special education class of all fifth graders, who were all able to follow the activity directions. The step by step video directions are a life saver!”
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Teacher
· about 5 years ago
“My students loved making the shadow clocks! We shut the lights off and "played" with them. As a teacher, I love finishing a lesson and know without a doubt that my students truly understood the content taught!”
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Jackie
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Teacher
· about 5 years ago
“The students getting to build and USE the sun dials with the flashlight. The hands on experience really helps to solidify their learning!”
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Valerie
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Admin
· about 5 years ago
“The students were able to experiment with the exact time inside the classroom, and then go directly outside to confirm.
The instructions for putting together were wonderful. I love how Mystery Science videos always loop the instructions so kids who miss instructions or are a bit slower to perform the task can see them repeatedly.”
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Trisha
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Teacher
· about 5 years ago
“My students loved the activity, and I appreciated that you use flashlights so it can be done on any day. The lesson is relevant to the standards.”
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Alison
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“The activity was simple and effective. It moved at a perfect pace. The guiding questions were great as we moved through the lesson.”
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Jeni
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“I love the shadow clocks and teaching kids how to use them backwards to find north at home! Many don't know which way is north at their house and I spend time talking about the night sky often througout the school year. They will then use north as a starting point. : ) I also REALLY love the chair video question. Great opportunity to have students make a claim, provide evidence and reasoning AND to revise their thinking!”
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Kelly
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“My students loved taking their sun dials outside to see actual shadows and an accurate time when facing north! What a fun, hands-on activity! ”
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Melinda
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“The kids really understood the concept when we made the shadow clocks and used them outside. Also, the kids enjoy the videos. The content is very "kid friendly" and the videos are short enough to keep them engaged. ”
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Elaine
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“Again, there was tremendous student engagement. I used the follow-up activities before the lesson & I think the students had a stronger understanding. I really feel that students are learning a lot from this fantastic program!”
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Martha
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Teacher
· over 5 years ago
“My children said that making the sundial was their favorite Mystery Science so far!”
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Elise
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Homeschooler
· about 6 years ago
“Shadow clocks helped to make perfect sense of how time came to be with the 12 hour splits, sunrise and sunset, as well as long and short shadows!”
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Paulette
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Teacher
· about 6 years ago
“This site rocks! This lesson was a lot of fun to facilitate ”
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Talya
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Teacher
· over 7 years ago
“I loved everything about this lesson! I've been teaching for 21 years...I wish I had this program years ago! ”
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Jenifer
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Teacher
· over 7 years ago
“Sun dial template was very helpful! Kids loved the activity and enjoyed learning to count with their finger segments up to 12.”
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Dean
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Teacher
· over 7 years ago
“they loved making the shadow clock and testing it out.”
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Patricia
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Teacher
· over 7 years ago
“Awesome! My students really enjoyed the activity of making a shadow clock. I had a parent in my classroom during the lesson and he also enjoyed the activity! I think he learned a thing or two also.”
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Camille
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“Awesome activity... We are looking into building a sundial in our playground, we had so much fun.”
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Julie
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“The students love these lessons. They get really into the discussions, and the 20 minute lesson usually lasts 30-45 minutes every time! ”
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Dana
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“The students loved learning about where the first clock originated and making shadow clocks was a big hit! It was raining yesterday, so we are anxiously waiting to test our shadow clocks outside. ”
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Corinne
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“simple explanation, never thought about why you can't always see the same constellations!
”
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Helen
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Homeschooler
· almost 8 years ago
“Ms. Mitchell's class enjoyed learning about how the first clock was made. They enjoyed turning off the lights and using the flashlight. Very hands-on. The overall lesson was great!”
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Jeaneva
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“My kids couldn't WAIT to share this with their family. We even set this out at Open House as an interactive activity for kids/families to do together. Everyone LOVED it!”
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Kelli
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“going outside and seeing that our clocks really worked!!!”
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Joany
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“Such a meaningful inquiry activity! The step by step directions with audio and visual were easy for the kids to follow, especially because the visual continued to repeat after the audio completed. Talk about "bang for your buck"- this activity hit speaking & listening skills, fine motor movements, science content, and more!”
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Jennifer
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Teacher
· almost 8 years ago
“Loved the conversations my students had about the position of the sun at different times of the day. I never would have thought to include this lesson to help build conceptual knowledge. Now, I know I will always include this in the lesson! ”
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Christy
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Teacher
· about 8 years ago
“The kids enjoyed playing with the flashlights and sun dials. It was cool that they could recreate the sun's apparent motion and watch the shadows move.”
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Kelli
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Teacher
· about 8 years ago
“The sundial actually worked! My kids were fascinated and are so much more interested in clocks and telling time now. Thanks so much for a great activity. ”
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Kira
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Homeschooler
· over 8 years ago
“Making the sundials was really eye-opening for the kids today. And they loved learning about why there are 24 hours in a day.
Here they are in action: https://mrenglesclass.wordpress.com/2015/11/05/using-shadows-and-sun-to-tell-time/
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In this lesson, students will learn why our ancestors divided the day into hours and how clocks measure the Sun’s apparent movement. In the activity, Make a Shadow Clock, students make their own sundials. First, students use flashlights indoors to understand how the position of the light affects the time shown on the clock. Then, students take their shadow clocks outside to see how the position of the Sun can tell them the time of day.
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.
Prep Shadow Clock Templates
Each Shadow Clock printout has two templates on it. Once you print these out, cut each in half so that each student will have one.
Label Classroom Walls with Cardinal Directions — North, South, East, West
When students are experimenting in the classroom, they need to orient their Shadow Clocks so the arrow points North.
Make four signs — North, South, East, and West.
Here’s one easy way to figure out where each sign goes:
Open Google Maps and enter your school’s street address.
Zoom in on your school and look at surrounding streets and landmarks.
North is always up on Google Maps. Find a landmark that’s to the north of your school.
Put North on the wall that’s closest to that landmark.
Face North. Put West on the wall to your left, East on the wall to your right, and South on the wall behind you.
Find North Outside and Draw Arrows with Chalk
The main activity is completed indoors, but we recommend that students test their Shadow Clocks outside on a sunny day. They’ll need to orient their Shadow Clock with the arrow pointing North. We recommend that you sketch several compass roses on the ground in chalk to serve as workstations.
The easiest way to find exact North when you are outside is to use a Shadow Clock. Turn the shadow clock to match the current time. Now the compass rose you made on the Shadow Clock will be properly oriented.
A magnetic compass, whether an old-fashioned kind or those available on many smartphones (such as iPhone’s compass app), actually points toward the Earth’s magnetic North Pole, which is slightly off from the geographic North Pole, depending on where you are. It may cause some error, depending on your location.
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
Challenge students to match the sun's position to clock time:Worksheet and answer key
Increase students' awareness of shadows with the Moving Shadow Game: Here’s a game to play outside on a sunny day. Find a place where the shadow of a building or wall makes a straight line. Mark that line with chalk.
Ask students to predict where the shadow will be in 15 minutes. Mark their guesses with other colors of chalk.
In 15 minutes, mark where the shadow ended up. How close were the guesses? Try again to see if you can do better.
This game is best when the sun is low in the sky. Don’t play at noon, when the sun is high in the sky.