Have you ever stopped to think about how the sun moves through the sky during the day?  It rises in the east, moves slowly higher and higher in the sky, and then slowly sinks in the west.  But really, YOU are the one moving, not the sun!

The Earth rotates once each day and that is what makes it look like the sun is moving.  You can try it yourself:

• Stand in the middle of a room.  You are going to pretend to be the Earth.  Now pick something in the room to be the sun and stand facing your “sun”.  This is what it’s like at noon, when the Sun is high up overhead.
• Now slowly turn your whole body, including your head, until you can just barely see your “sun” out of the corner of your eye.  That’s what it’s like at sunset.  The part of the Earth that you are standing on is getting ready to turn away from the sun.
• Now keep turning until you can just barely see your “sun” out of the corner of your other eye.  It’s sunrise!  The part of the Earth you are standing on is getting ready to turn back towards the sun.

Our Earth turns around and around, just like that, every day. Even though you were the one moving, it looked like everything else in the room shifted places. For thousands of years, people have used this motion to help keep track of time and you are going to make a sundial so you can do the same.

You will need:
A straw
A landscape staple
A piece of chalk
A paper plate
A marker or pen
Tape
A good pair of scissors
A smartphone or compass (Optional)

1. Using the landscape staple, carefully poke two holes along the rim of the plate.  Be very careful!  As the staple pushes through the plate, don’t let it stab your hand.
   You can see the holes in this picture:
   
2. Using your scissors, carefully poke a hole in the middle of the plate.
3. Insert one end of the straw into the hole.  Use your tape to keep the straw as straight up and down as you can make it.
4. Optional: If you line up your plate with a compass, you can move your plate to a different spot if you need to and the sundial will still work.
   Here’s how:
   Write an “S” on one edge of the plate.
   Using a compass or a compass app, figure out which way is South.
   Place your plate on the ground with the “S” lined up with the “S” on the compass.
5. Put your landscape staple through the holes and into the ground to keep your plate from blowing away in a breeze.
6. At the top of an hour (10:00, 2:00, 5:00, etc.) use your sharpie to color in the shadow made by your straw and write the hour next to the shadow.  Keep doing this, each hour until sunset.  You can fill in the morning hours tomorrow, too!
7. Once your sundial is complete, you can tell which hour you are in by seeing where the shadow falls.