🌞 Lesson Overview

Duration: 31 minutes  |  Class Size: 25 students  |  Year Level: 2–3

A hands-on lesson exploring the concept of time using sundials and the sun's movement. Students integrate basic fractions with creative writing and art, aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, Phase 1 Mathematics & Statistics — focusing on measurement, rational numbers, and patterns.

🎯 Learning Objectives

Measurement & Geometry

• Identify and describe the passing of time including days, hours, and seasons; understand duration and sequence of events.

• Use everyday language of time: 'o'clock', 'half past', 'quarter past', and 'quarter to'.

• Investigate angles and turns, linking quarter and half turns to fractions (half, quarter).

Rational Numbers (Fractions)

• Identify, represent, and name halves, quarters, and eighths using equal parts of sets and regions.

• Use mathematical language: numerator, denominator, equal parts, shared equally, partition.

• Compare and order simple fractions and represent fractions on number lines.

Language & Creative Arts

• Use mathematical language to explain patterns and sequences in writing.

• Represent concepts artistically through sundial diagrams and fraction art.

🔑 Key Competencies

• Thinking: Critical thinking examining sun movement and time fractions.

• Using language, symbols and texts: Explain time and fractions verbally and in writing.

• Participating and contributing: Work in pairs to explore and discuss findings.

• Managing Self: Engage with time measurement activities independently and creatively.

🧰 Materials Preparation

Gather the following before the lesson:

⏱️ Lesson Plan with Timings

1. Starter: Introduction to Time and Sundials (5 minutes)

• Brief discussion: How did people use the sun long ago to tell time using sundials?

• Show an image or model of a sundial to the class.

• Explain that the sun moves across the sky, casting shadows that change length and position throughout the day.

Curriculum link: Measurement — time concepts, using everyday language of time.

2. Main Activity Part 1: Making Simple Sundials (10 minutes)

• Students work in pairs to create sundials using paper plates with a straw inserted in the centre as the gnomon.

• Mark the plate to represent clock hours, beginning with observation of the sun's shadow direction.

• Take sundials outside briefly (or observe shadows near a light source inside) to watch shadow movement.

Focus: Understand how shadow position changes with time — linking real-world sun movement to analogue clock times.

Curriculum link: Measurement — duration, sequence, and everyday time language.

3. Main Activity Part 2: Fractions Using Sundial Shadows (7 minutes)

• Use the sundial to explore time fractions: half past, quarter past, quarter to.

• Demonstrate with paper plates divided into halves and quarters — relate these to parts of the clock face (e.g., half the clock = 30 minutes).

• Students colour and label fractions on their sundial templates, linking fractional parts to time passed.

Key vocabulary to use: numerator, denominator, equal parts, half, quarter, partition.

Curriculum link: Rational numbers — halves, quarters, equal parts, number lines.

4. Linking Writing & Art (7 minutes)

• Students write simple sentences about their observations. Prompt questions:

   – How did the shadow change over time?

   – What does 'half past' mean on your sundial?

   – What does 'quarter to' look like as a fraction?

• Students create an artistic sundial illustration or decorate fraction strips related to their sundial.

Curriculum link: Language and communication; Creative Arts — connecting mathematical understanding with expressive arts.

5. Wrap-up and Reflection (2 minutes)

• Ask students to share one thing they learned about time and fractions.

• Recap: How does the sun help us tell time? How do fractions explain parts of an hour?

• Briefly connect sundial shadows to analogue clock positions as a closing link.

📊 Assessment & Teacher Notes

Assessment Strategies

• Observation: Monitor student participation and understanding during sundial construction and pair work.

• Work sample: Check accuracy of fraction labelling on sundial templates and written sentences about time concepts.

• Informal questioning: Use wrap-up discussion to assess conceptual grasp of time fractions and shadow movement.

✏️ Teacher Reflection Notes

🌟 Extension Ideas

• Outdoor tracking: Take sundials outside at different times of the day to track shadow changes across a full school day.

• Cultural connections: Connect to Māori concepts of time and seasons — integrate te reo Māori language for days, months, and time (e.g., ata — morning, ahiahi — afternoon). Supported by curriculum emphasis on cultural contexts.

• Digital clocks: After sundial exploration, compare analogue sundial readings with digital clock displays for comparative learning.

• Fractions extension: Introduce eighths — divide the clock face into 8 equal parts and link to 7.5-minute intervals.

📌 Curriculum Alignment Summary

NZ Curriculum Refresh — Phase 1, Mathematics & Statistics:

• Measurement & Geometry: Time, duration, sequence, angles and turns.

• Rational Numbers: Halves, quarters, eighths; equal parts; number lines.

• Patterns & Relationships: Observing and describing patterns in shadow movement.

• Cross-curricular: Language Arts (writing), Creative Arts (visual art), Science (sun and shadows).