Astronomy Science Fair Projects
Telling Time By The Sun Experiment: Build your own sun dial Category: Environmental Science Ages: Elementary School One such project is to make your own sun dial. You will need a Styrofoam cup with a plastic lid and straw, a watch, permanent marker, pencil, tape, some small pebbles and a compass. Once you have gathered your materials, you are ready to build. Use the pencil to poke a hole in the side of the cup about two inches below the top, put the pebbles in the cup so it doesn’t fall over, then put the lid on the cup. Put the straw through the hole in the lid and through the hole in the side of the cup, letting it stick out the hole on the side of the cup about half an inch. Tape the straw in place. Now you are ready to try out your sun dial! Start using your sundial on a sunny morning when you are going to be home for the day. You will then need to find a spot out in the open that is going to be in the sun for the majority of the day. Make sure there are no trees or building in the way and set your sun dial on a level surface. Use the compass to find north, and then turn your cup so the straw is pointing towards the north. At 10 a.m. use the marker to mark where the shadow from the straw falls on the lid of the cup, and repeat this every hour until 3 p.m. When finished, try reading the time by the shadows and compare it to your watch the next day.
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