You run panting into Londinium's crowded amphitheatre. You spot your friends waving at you from the sea of faces surrounding the race track. As you dash up the steps to join them, your toga catches on the statue of Mercury the messenger god, and you fall over amidst much laughter.

"Late again!" laughs your friend when you finally get to your seat.

"I... I didn't realise what the time was..." you gasp, out of breath.

"You should get one of these horizontal sundials" he replies. "Latest design by Ptolemy, that Greco-Egyptian astronomer. They tell you what time of day it is to the minute. Then you won't need winged sandals like Mercury to get to the games on time!" (more laughter.) "Here, I've got a parchment sundial scroll, have a go at making one, just follow the instructions and..."

His voice is drowned by a roar from the crowd as the charioteers come onto the track.

Follow the instructions below to make your own sundial...

To make the sundial you will need…

• Scissors
• Glue (or sellotape)
• Cardboard (optional)

To use the sundial you will need…

• A compass (or other way of finding north)
• A flat surface
• Sunshine!

What to do...

• Download and print out the instructions and the sundial template (below).
• Construct the sundial following the instructions.

High quality (PDFs)

• Instructions (87KB)
• Sundial template (123KB)

Low quality (HTML/JPEGs)

• Instructions (7KB)
• Sundial template (1) (32KB)
• Sundial template (2) (17KB)

Disclaimer

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