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Jan10-Offprint-EduCorner-Donev.pdf

The sundial is one of the oldest scientific instruments; its principle is simple: a gnomon casts a shadow based on the Sun's position. By recording the position of the gnomon's shadow, one can track the motion of the Sun across the sky. While sundials have typically been used as a way to gauge the passage of time, they remain a useful pedagogical tool since it shows unexpected (to the student) details about the Sun’s motion across the sky. We have built a sundial and put it on the internet. By storing pictures on a website of the gnomon’s 1 shadow taken at regular intervals, teachers can present data about the Sun's motion across the sky so fast that it can match any student's attention span (Figure 1). Students all the way from the University and College level to the Elementary School level can learn aspects of space and astronomy, from the comfort of the classroom and without having to monitor home-made apparatus out of doors from dawn till dusk.