Making a clock
from It's About Time Colloquy funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Your mission is to construct a simple clock that will measure 60 seconds.

You will use the materials, like string, tape and stuff, that we will provide. You must design and build the clock.

You must calibrate it against a "standard" clock so that you know how your clock compares with standard time.

Then you must write some operating instructions so that someone else will be able to use your clock.

After the clocks are completed, your clock and operating instructions will be given to another student to test and to critique. The student will compare your clock to the standard clock to see how precise your clock is and whether it is a dependable time-keeper. That is, does your clock always measure 60 seconds, and not 58 or 65 seconds?

Use the clock as directed to measure 60 seconds on five different times. Each time write down the number of seconds given by the standard clock

For instance, suppose you use the clock five times. The standard clock gives you

The precision of the clock is determined by taking the standard deviation of the measurements. That is

The smaller the value of the standard deviation, the better the clock.

Clock evaluation sheet

Evaluator _______________________________
Clock Creator _____________________________

Were the operating instructions written clearly?

Was the clock easy to operate?

Use the clock as directed to measure 60 seconds on five different times. Give the average number of seconds given by the standard clock and the standard deviation