Water Time Is It?
Water better way to keep track of time than this?
Show above is the 20 second clip, two different three minute versions are also up on youtube at
This was a science project, and an excellent example of what happens when you have a great kid in a great school with a great dad who is also a great engineer.
Also note the great smiles in the video, if you're into the whole confusion about "correlation equals causation". Science be damned - I'm certain that one causes the other, just not sure which causes which - smiles or great stuff.
The project was to devise a machine that kept track of time in 1-2 second increments.
Sophia:
- School: Kealing Middle School - Austin Texas
- Science Magnet.
- 6th Grade
- my niece
The Project
The infamous "Time Project" has been inflicted on 6th graders in the Kealing Magnet Program for several years now. The assignment is to build an apparatus that can measure a period of time at least 30 seconds long, in increments between 1 and 2 seconds in length. (Since Sophia's oscillator completed a cycle in about 0.5 seconds, she
just defined her time increment as three cycles.)
Expenditures are limited to $10; however, any materials readily at hand (wire, glue, etc.) or recycled materials (pipe, wood, cardboard, etc.) are exempt from this budget. The whole apparatus has to fit within an envelope of 1' x 1' x 2'.
Once the student sets it up and kicks it off, the device has to run to completion without further intervention. Students had to research similar timekeeping devices and submit design drawings, materials lists and progress assessments throughout the design and build process.
The timekeeping apparatus also serves as the basis for several other assignments in science and math (calculating standard statistical metrics, calculating measurement error, discussions of precision vs. accuracy, etc.).
Says Sophia's father Ken: "Did I mention I love this curriculum? They don't teach science facts, they teach scientific method."
One Father's Opinion:
"In my most humble and completely objective opinion, Sophia's project was the most clever and sophisticated in her class. More typical projects were simple water clocks with water filling a graduated cylinder of some sort."
