What it shows
A clock face has twelve numbers, and the short hand shows hours while the long hand shows minutes. Moving the hands helps us read time.
The science
The day has 24 hours and the clock shows twelve at a time. The short hand goes round once in twelve hours and the long hand goes round once every hour. When the long hand points at 12 it is “o’clock”. When it points at 6 it is half past. Each number stands for five minutes for the long hand.
Materials
Cost: free. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- A paper plate or round cardboard (free)
- Two strips of cardboard for hands
- A brass paper fastener
- A marker and ruler
- Scissors
Safety
For this project: An adult must cut the plate and make the hole for the fastener.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Write the numbers 1 to 12 around the edge of the plate like a clock.
Make one short hand and one long hand from the cardboard strips.
Ask an adult to pierce a hole in the middle and fix both hands with the fastener.
Show 3 o’clock by pointing the long hand at 12 and the short hand at 3.
Show half past 6 with the long hand at 6 and the short hand between 6 and 7.
Ask a friend to set times, like 9 o’clock, and read them.
Write the five minute numbers, 5, 10, 15, up to 60, on the outside in a different colour.
Show your school start and meal times on the clock.
What you should see
A working clock whose hands you turn, and you can read hours and half hours correctly.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1Which hand is shorter?
The hour hand.
2Where does the long hand point at half past?
At 6.
3How many minutes in an hour?
Sixty.
4How many hours in a day?
Twenty four.
Take it further
Learn quarter past and quarter to and show them on the clock.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
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