Ahmed arrived at the gym. Everyone was setting up for the science fair. He went to an empty table and put out his photos. He propped up his poster. He was ready.

The topic of Ahmed’s project was sundials. He had learned all about them. He found out that a sundial is a device that tells time. You can tell what time it is depending where the sun casts its shadow on the dial.

A sundial is made of a flat plate and a stick. The stick is called gnomon. Ahmed liked that word. It reminded him of a gnome. Because they need sun, sundials are often found in gardens. Just like gnomes.

Ahmed built his own sundial. He made it out of a paper plate and a drinking straw. First, he wrote the number 12 at the top of the plate. Then he poked a hole in the middle of the plate. He drew a line from the 12 to the hole. This line would represent 12 o’clock noon.

Next, Ahmed went into the garden. He used a compass to find North. He put the plate on the ground and stuck the straw into the hole. He pushed the straw slightly towards the North.

At noon, Ahmed moved the plate so that the shadow of the straw lined up perfectly with the line he drew. He put some pins into the plate so it would stay in place. Every hour he went back to his sundial. He wrote the number of the hour on the edge of the plate where the straw’s shadow fell.

The shadow moved in a clockwise direction. Once it was done, the numbers wound around the edge of the plate like a clock. Ahmed took pictures of the sundial every hour.

Back in the gym, he laid out the photos. He put out his sundial. On his poster, he had information about sundials. He had directions for making them too. Ahmed couldn’t wait for the fair to start. He was going to tell everyone how awesome sundials could be!