Clock Tick Tock

 

Time passes – and we keep track of that time with clocks. Over time, clocks have changed. Discover the timeliness and timelessness of clocks with these activities.

 

CONNECT:

• Start with these timely facts about clocks: https://easyscienceforkids.com/clocks-time-video-for-kids/
• See the history of the first clocks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_vKW_D4UBg
• Watch how a mechanical clock works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_QsCLYs2mY
• Watch the amazing atomic clock at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS3MkLamhI8
• King Charles III get crowned? It took place in Westminster Abbey, which has one of the most famous clocks: Big Ben. Read these fun facts about Big Ben at https://kidzfeed.com/big-ben-facts-for-kids/

 

CREATE:

• Let the sun tell you the time by making a sun dial: https://www.generationgenius.com/activities/earths-orbit-and-rotation-activity-for-kids/
• When can a potato tell time? When it is a potato clock! Make your own potato clock by following the directions at https://www.coolkidfacts.com/how-to-make-a-potato-clock/
• Check out dozens of ways to learn how to tell time at https://www.weareteachers.com/5-hands-on-ways-to-teach-telling-time/

 

CARE:

• Getting enough sleep is important for everyone, and changing time for daylight savings can impact sleep. Get some tips to help that adjustment at https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/sleep/Pages/daylight-saving-time-dont-lose-sleep-over-it.aspx
• Everyone has an inner clock, biological rhythms. Experiment with your inner clock at https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/clock.html
• Parents: use this age-by-age guide to teach kids time management: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/teach-kids-to-manage-time.html

 

CAREERS:

Is it time to talk about careers? You can make and sell clocks, use clocks to time processes, and repair clocks. You can also use clocks to help people make the best use of their time. Take time to learn about some of these job opportunities.

• Identify the jobs at a clock factory by watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCxLlmRfTBk
• http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-information/watch-and-clock-repairer-career/
• https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/collections/careers-for-people-who-like-time-management/

 

 

 

It's About Time!

It’s New Year: time to think about time. How do we keep track of it? Does it really fly – or does it seem to stop at times? And is it really all relative?

CONNECT:

• What is the history of time? Walk through time at http://www.nist.gov/pml/general/time/index.cfm
• Father Time is often pictured as the old year passes. Discover the story of Old Father Time at http://www.novareinna.com/festive/oft.html
• Clocks with hands are usually analog; others are digital (such as a numbers on a LED screen). Here’s a video about analog and digital: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfyAen-bJS8
• Now bend your mind around the idea of time being relative: http://trendingsideways.com/index.php/the-theory-of-relativity-for-kids/

CREATE:

• Before there were clocks there were sundials. Find out how they work, and make your own: http://www.sundials.co.uk/
• If you’ve seen New Year’s celebrations on TV, you probably know that the new year arrives earlier in Australian than in Hawaii. Why is that? Find out at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=widWLhIIbzs.  You can calculate the time difference between two cities using http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html
• You can build a clock that runs on potatoes! Follow these videos to make your own: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Potato-Clock
• A year is calculated on the basis of one complete orbit around the sun. So your age would be different on other planets.  http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/age/ will calculate your birthday on other worlds (maybe a nice idea for parents).

CARE:

• Here are tips for better time management; you can try them out as a family: http://www.parents.com/kids/responsibility/time-management/
• Teach kids how to tell time using this interactive simulation: http://www.timemonsters.com/ or video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrxZWNu72WI
• Teaching games? Need a stopwatch or countdown? Use this website: http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/
• It can be hard to live without a watch. You can donate old clocks and watches for other children to repurpose. Check it out at http://prestwickhouse.blogspot.com/2011/05/donate-old-watches-for-great-cause.html

CAREERS:

Many jobs depend on time: food and hospitality, transportation, medicine, education, sports – think of some others.  Some jobs have time as their central concern: watch makers, jewelers, astronomers and geologist (who have a different sense of time). Find out the details at:

• http://jimsmuse.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/watchmaker/
• http://jimsmuse.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/geologist/
• http://www.noao.edu/education/being-an-astronomer.php
• You might even work at the home of Greenwich Mean Time: http://www.rmg.co.uk/about/history/royal-observatory/

Out with the Old, In with the New

It’s the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new year. But what makes a year? And does it matter? And what was that about the end of the world because the Mayan calendar said that? And what calendar is right? Let’s spend a little time on time.

Connect:

• What makes a year? It’s physically defined as one Earth orbit around the sun.  Find out about years and days at http://www.kidport.com/reflib/science/space/Earth.htm#RotationRevolution
• What’s the source of leap year? Find out the science behind that “extra” day at http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/LeapYear.html
• So what’s with the Mayan calendar? http://people.howstuffworks.com/mayan-calendar.htm shows how it works.
• Did you know that the word calendar comes from the word “calare,” which means to proclaim. Find out the meaning of other calendar words and astronomical origins (including Star Wars) at http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/
• Walk through time, virtually. The U.S. Department of Commerce has online exhibits about timekeeping history, clock mechanisms, and even atomic clocks: http://www.time.gov/exhibits.html

Create:

• What is your birthday according to the Persian calendar or the Mayan one – or what is its UNIX value? You can convert any date with this calendar converter: http://www.calendarhome.com/converter/.
• Speaking of which, you can find out about Martian years, and convert Earth time to Martian time (which might make your parents younger), at http://pweb.jps.net/~tgangale/mars/faq.htm
• You can make your own Mayan calendar with tools found at http://www.pauahtun.org/Calendar/tools.html
• Even before clocks and print calendars there were sundials. You can found out how they work, and make your own at http://www.sundials.co.uk/  (This site is also available in Czech, German,  Dutch,  French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hungarian.
• Another way to mark time is through a timeline. You can make a family timeline using http://www.ourtimelines.com/index.shtml

Care:

• Calendar activities are not very meaningful for children younger than six years old. They CAN understand the concepts of before, after, and later. Families can take pictures of the day’s activities, and put them on a calendar as a way to concretize the day’s activities. A good article about calendars and child development is found at http://www.isbe.net/earlychi/pdf/beneke_calendar_time.pdf
• One way to show that you care about others is to remember their special days. You can make a family calendar using tools at www.calendarhome.com/
• Celebrate! Almost every day has special meaning for someone. Locate an event for each day of the year, and figure out a way to celebrate it: http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php
• Care for your body by keeping fit. You can use http://www.bam.gov/sub_physicalactivity/physicalactivity_activitycalendar.html to create a personlized physical activity calendar.
• Calendars often have great pictures. You can recycle them as pictures for your walls or the walls of institutionalized people.

Careers:

What are some careers that link with calendars? Try historians and astronomers as a start.

• http://www.historians.org/pubs/free/careers/Index.htm, http://jobs.lovetoknow.com/Historian_Careers  and http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/career.html give career advice for history lovers. 
• http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/careers.php not only talks about astronomy careers, but also explains the difference between astronomy and astrology.