Introduction
The clock for learning time has movable hands. It has three main modes,the first demonstrates how to tell the time using an analogue clock. The second mode uses the the clock hands as a way of learning angles. The third mode uses the clock as a way to help understand fractions. The clocked can be altered to change colors and its overall styling.Note in this activity different controls are shown depending on the current mode
Common Controls
The controls above the mode selector arealways displayed. At the top you will see a digital clock, below arethree buttons. Click the 12 button todisplay in normal 12 hour format with AM/PM. Click 24button to change to the 24 hour format. Often you won't want todisplay the time at all, click off and thedigital clock will disappear.
The clock can be used to display the current time (based on the clockof the computer you are using). Click the real time to toggle this feature. This is useful as children can observehow the clock changes throughout the day. For random time problemsclick the random button and the clock handswill spin to produce a random time. So this is great for lots of quickfire questions.
When the clock is not showing the actual real time, then smallhandles appear at the end of the hands, these and dragged intoposition.
Time mode controls.
First select time mode, below are a set ofcontrols. These can be used in time problems or to view how much timehas elapsed when showing the actual real time. The first one displaysthe hours passed. The second one the minutes that have passed. Underneath reset button sets both back to zero.
So a brief example of how to use them would be click randomtime. Now ask what the class what time will be in say 1hour and 25minutes. To demonstrate this click reset, soboth minutes and hours are zero. Now drag the clock hand forward untilthe hours is 1 and the minutes is 25. The clock now displays theanswer to the initial problem.
Angles mode
Clocks have always been a useful way to teach about angles. This clockhas angle measurements built in. First set the modeto angles, to get the control set.
In angles mode you will now see a protractorbutton click it to toggle the display of the protractor. Next is theauto toggle button, click to turn iton and you will notice the protractor lines up automatically tomeasure the angle. Move the clock hands and the protractor willfollow. Below the protractor button is a slideruse this to change the size of the protractor. When measuring anglesthe large clock hands can be made thin for better accuracy by clickingthin. To display the angle click Ang, and click Arcto display the angle arc. When dragging the minute hand it currentlysnaps to the nearest minute, turn this feature off by clicking snap. Finally the type of angle can bechanged using the select control. Soyou can choose the angle between the hour hand and minute hand, bothclockwise and anti-clockwise. Or measure the angle of the second handfrom 12 o'clock. This works very well with the realtimesetting as children can see a full angle of 360° turned everyminute. This helps learning of key angles such as 0°, 90°,270° etc. Also conversions such as 30 secs * 6 = 180°
Fractions mode
Select fraction on the mode control to usethe clock to teach fractions. Time statements such as 'a quarterpast', 'half past' and 'a quarter to' obviously are linked to fraction.
In the fraction mode a circle sector is painted from 12 o'clock to the minutehand position. Two large fractions are displayed the fraction of an hour shows the unsimplifiedfraction of minutes÷60. The simplifiedfraction is the same fraction cancelled down when possible.
The simple button toggles removal ofthe hour and second hands to give a simplified view. You can alsoclick thin to toggle the thinner clockhands. The clock is divided according to the dividerlines control. The default setting is auto, this divides the clockaccording to the fraction displayed. Essentially the clock is divideddepending on the simplified fraction. However you can turn off automode and divide the clock according to the number selected.
Percentages can also be shown by clicking to toggle the percentage display.
Styling the Clock
Select the style mode to access controls.So for example to change the colour of the numbers, click numbers followed by a colour from the colourpicker. To remove the numbers completely click'X' in the colour picker. You can do this with other parts of the clock too, whichobviously can make reading the clock more difficult.
Related activities
Further lessons on the telling the time involve comparison of two different times the two clocks activity is excellent in this regard andcan also generate time questions.
To expand on the angles try Basic angleswhich can be used to examine types of angles such as acute,obtuse and reflex. It can also so be used to create many different types of random angle problems.
Having seen a circular fraction in this activity, the interactive fraction wall can also be used for further teaching of fractions.
