Parents Donate Sundial

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Published: 12 June 2011

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Mark and Clare Hoggart have three daughters, all of whom attended and graduated from the Joseph Rowntree school in the UK.  Now, in appreciation, the Hoggarts have donated an analemmatic sundial to the school, saying, “It’s just a thank-you for getting the girls through their education. They have all got on really well and have blossomed into lovely young ladies. We want to thank them for the effort they have shown them as individuals.” The sundial has been installed outside the science block.

The Hoggarts, who own an ornamental gardenware company, have already received orders from others who are interested in a similar installation. See the NASS website on dial construction for further plans to build an analemmatic sundial.

Sundials on the Mall 2012

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Published: 11 July 2010

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NASS and the Analemma Society, inspired by the success of the 2010 USA Science and Engineering Festival, are registering for the Festival on the Washington D.C. Mall.  The event, supported by volunteers from both NASS and the Analemma Society is scheduled for the Spring of 2012.

NASS and the Analemma Society will have a booth to teach families and children how to make sundials and read sundial time with the theme: Sundials, the Worlds Oldest Clocks.

We expect the return of many of the sundialist volunteers that supported the 2010 Festival.  For the coming year, we expect to improve our educational goals beyond the popular “Great Sundial Cutout.”  What else is in store?  Stay tuned as we formulate our educational material.  Have and idea?  Please send an email toRobert Kellogg

For more information on all Festival events and how you can get involved, visit  www.usasciencefestival.org.

Analemma

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Published: 02 January 2025

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Russell Goyder has a new Python program simply called Analemma. But the program is far from simple as it is able to compute the shape and provide visualizations of the analemma for any planet in our solar system. His documentation and approach chooses to use the inertial frame of our solar system and apply vectors of position to determine the analemma and equation of time. "From the documentation, you can run and modify any [Python Jupyter] notebook yourself by clicking on the 'launch binder' button." Analemma uses SymPy and GAlgebra to encode and present the mathematics of the analemma.

His notebook is at:  https://russellgoyder.ca/analemma/

A number of authors have used vector algebra to obtain trigonometric formulas many of us use. Goyder however uses the world of geometric algebra that consists of "outer products" and "bivectors". The terms are unfamiliar to many, but when explained, result in creating familiar trig formulas. An introduction to geometric algebra can be found at https://bivector.net/ with several informative videos.

Astronomy Teaching Tools - Sundials, Globes, Astrolabes and More

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Published: 12 December 2021

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John Krieger, a former science teacher, is a strong supporter of STEM in the classroom and science in the real world. Bollards at Laguna Nigel in southern California might offer the opportunity to teach a bit of astronomy. 

John says, "I don’t mean to imply that every concrete curb stop should be turned into an astronomical instrument. But why can’t we have more of these things around us? The ‘globe sundial’ is not an original idea of mine. People have actually made them, but they are depressingly rare....Sometimes someone does go to the trouble of making a beautiful, scientifically literate public display, and places it in full view of the everyday public, and even provides instructions..." Many of these public displays are sundials and during John's career, he developed aids to teach astronomy to schoolchildren. At his website, he makes an array of paper sundials, globes, astrolabes and quadrants available in PDF form for printing and easy constructing to make an accurate sundial or globe with explanation of how it works. "Most of them are printable PDF files that you can download and give to kids to label, cut out, and use as the basis of some activity... Officially, I am making all of these works available under a Creative Commons — Attribution License, which means you may do anything you like with them, as long as you give me credit as the creator."

And don't worry about adjusting for latitude. His paper instruments are available for download at every 10 degrees of latitude from 60 deg south to 60 deg north, which for example would be appropriate for use in Reykjavik, Iceland. In North America, 20 degrees covers lower Florida, 30 degrees is suitable for southern California, 40 degrees works for the big US east coast cities, and 50 degrees is appropriate for Calgary in the heart of Alberta.

Downloads available at: https://www.astronomyforthinkers.com/downloads/

For the Hemispherical Dial, go to: https://www.instructables.com/A-Hemispherical-Paper-Sundial/

Sundial Atlas Paper Sundials

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Published: 24 March 2013

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Connetquot Students Use Sundials to Tell Time

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Published: 16 November 2011

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Sundials in Grammar School

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Published: 15 March 2011

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Avid dialist and former The Grammar School teacher and head of the Putney, VT school, Mac Oglesby guides 6th graders to plan and construct their own working sundials. Oglesby's students learned how to correctly position their dials to display the accurate time throughout the year.

Attachments:

NASS-SpiderSundial.pdf

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