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How to Measure Time Without a Clock

In order to tell time without a clock, borrow some techniques from history, before clocks and watches were invented. For example, many African tribes told time by pointing to a place in the sky that the sun would be at the time they wanted to meet. Egyptians and Babylonians divided the nights and days into 24 equal segments, which is how the modern 24-hour clock originated. Telling time without a clock generally requires a little patience in plotting sun and moon movements over a period of time.

Instructions

- 1
  Place a stick in the ground. Mark the locations of the stick's shadow and what time it is. This will work on a sunny day: just read the time that corresponds to the shadow's location.
- 2
  Find out the movement of the sun in the sky for your area. The closer you are to the equator, the easier it will be to use this method, because the sun tends to move through the sky in a similar (high) position throughout the year. The further you are away from the equator, the more the sun's position will vary (in winter, the sun will be lower in the sky than in the summer).
- 3
  Track the sun's movements on the horizon if you are in very northern or southern regions: the middle of the sun's path is on the same part of the horizon (even if it is a very short or long day). Tracking the sun's movements on the horizon can help you determine what time of day it is.
- 4
  Divide daytime and nighttime into segments. For example, divide the daylight hours into twelve segments and use the sun's position to indicate which segment of the day it is (a sun at high noon would be the start of the sixth segment). One drawback with this method is that the length of the day and night segments will change depending on what season it is and how far away from the equator you are.
- 5
  Divide the horizon into eight segments: north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest. Note a building or other landmark that lays in the exact center of these directions. This would be your "daymark." Track the sun's (or moon's) movements over these locations. Then, in the future, when the sun (or moon) reaches a certain daymark, you'll know what time it is.

Insects & Science