Sunshine in your pocket!
Making a sundial for the Northern hemisphere.

To make a sundial for the Southern Hemisphere click here.

A printable version of this lesson.

Necklace/Keychain In the text below you will find the following links.




Once you understand the motion of the Sun across the sky for the different seasons we need to recognize what feature of that motion is most useful for building a sundial.









To compare the time on the sundial you construct to the time on a clock, there are several adjustments which should be made. The North American Sundial Society has a nice page which discusses these adjustments. Visit: Sundial Time vs. Clock Time .

During daylight savings time you will need to add one hour to the time on your sundial in order to agree with local "clock" time.

Here is a beautiful sundial that was constructed using the instructions on these pages.

YPOP Homepage Learning Activities The Sun's Path

Lesson designed by Michelle B. Larson

For questions about this lesson, please email Michelle B. Larson