Measuring Time in 5th Grade
April 03, 2025
Launch the media gallery 1 player - media #1Aligning their shadow clocks with north
Launch the media gallery 1 player - media #2Students had to adjust where they sat to make sure they didn't block their clocks.
Have you ever wondered how we started measuring time, even before we had analog and digital clocks to help us tell time? That's what our 5th grades spent time learning.
In our Earth Science unit, our 5th graders learned about the Earth's rotation, why we have different seasons, how the stars seem to move across the sky, and why the moon goes through different phases through the month. In one of our lessons, the students made their own shadow clock, or sundial. In this experiment, the students learned about the Earth's rotation on its axis, which is what gives us night and day. They set their shadow clocks up to show what month we were in and determined where north was so that their time could be accurate.
The students had fun practicing inside with a flashlight, and thankfully the weather cooperated with us to allow for an outdoors application to our experiment. They used a compass to find north and lined their shadow clocks up. In doing so, the students were able to find a new way to tell time. They learned that where you place the toothpick on your shadow clock is determined by what month it is. Did you know the sun makes a higher arc through the sky in summer than in winter?
Next time you meet one of our 5th graders, be sure to ask how people told time before clocks were invented. They've learned a lot!
