Resource 1: Ways of measuring time long ago

Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

A story about using the crowing of the cock to tell the time

Mr Ali is a village petty trader. He takes his wares to nearby villages on their market days. He normally treks to the villages. To know when to start his journeys, he used to listen to the crow of the cock early in the mornings; that tells him it is morning and he would set off. But one day, the cock crowed too early. Mr Ali thought it was morning and set off. On getting to the road, he found that it was still very dark and for a long time he had to travel alone in the dark. He also got to the market too early and had to wait for a long time before other people arrived. From that day, Mr Ali concluded that depending on cock crows to know when it is morning is not always reliable.

Original source: http://inventors.about.com [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (Accessed 2008)

3. Using local resources to teach telling the time

Resource 2: Water clocks – ways of measuring time throughout history