Clocks were included in ancient time pieces and navigation. Now elaborate clocks are part time pieces and part computers you can wear on your wrist. Simple digital watches can be made with a few simple parts.
Making a Simple Astrolabe
In this activity, learners make an astrolabe, a device used for measuring altitude, including the height of objects in the sky. This activity guide includes instructions for constructing the device as well as brief background information about when the astrolabe was first invented.
How the Apple Watch Works
Smartwatches are not a new concept. The idea goes back at least to the 1940s with the introduction of Dick Tracy’s communicator watch. It’s taken them a while to come to fruition, but watches that have computing functionalities and work hand-in-hand with smartphones are finally part of the electronics market. They can notify you when you have calls, display your messages and upcoming meetings, and act as controllers for your phone’s music and other apps. And now Apple is entering the fray.
How a Digital Clock Works
Marshall Brain not only shows you how one works, but will step you through building your own for about $30 worth of parts.
How Pendulum Clocks Work
Marshall Brain, the brains behind How Stuff Works, shows you how to design and build a Grandfather-type clock.
How to Make Your Own Custom Clock
A modern wooden clock can be an interesting piece of wall art. It looks good on its own but it also looks good incorporated into a large gallery wall setting too. The only tough part is finding just the right style of clock that’s simple enough to not be a distraction, but pretty enough that it fits in. The answer to this challenge is to make one yourself! You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own.
Inside a Wind-up Alarm Clock
Wind-up alarm clocks have been around a long time, but they are still fun to explore. By Marshall Brain.
The Secret Life of Machines – Quartz Watch part 1
Part 1 of the quartz watch. Brilliant 1980’s educational series presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod.
Part 2
Part 3
Sundials on the Internet
Directions for four different kinds of sundials you can easily make for yourself. You’ll need to use some geometry skills to get them right.
Telling Time without a Clock: Scandinavian Daymarks
How would we measure time without a clock? We know that the Sun moves across the sky during the day. Can we tell what time it is by looking at the position of the Sun?
A Walk Through Time
The evolution of time measurement through the ages. All clocks must have two basic components: a regular, constant or repetitive process or action to mark off equal increments of time and a means of keeping track of the increments of time and displaying the result.
