Understanding Time & Gravity

We doubt even physicists really understand how time and gravity work. These sites, however, give you a glimpse into it all, appropriate for students.

Like other resources in this library, these sites advance the traditional curriculum by asking meta-questions: Who sets the time on our globe? How was the time set in history? What is global time (rather than a student’s local time)? In other words, students can go beyond the descriptive to the analytical.

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Strangest Time Zones of the World

This video looks at some of the world's strangest time zones, including: China, Kiribati, Nepal, Australia and more.  learn more

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EarthSky: What Is Time?

Thomas Kitching, a cosmologist and astrophysics lecturer, looks at questions like: Does time have a beginning? Time's arrow? Will time end? Written in non-technical language, this post gives…  learn more

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Does Time Really Flow? New Clues Come From a Century-Old Approach to Math

Strangely, although we feel as if we sweep through time on the knife-edge between the fixed past and the open future, that edge – the present – appears…  learn more

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How Gravity Makes Things Fall

A demonstration of gravity, featuring the "Spacetime Stretcher," built mostly out of materials from the garage and hardware store. Click on the YouTube logo to view the About…  learn more

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NIST

Major concepts and a history of time-keeping can be found at the NIST site.  learn more

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Telling Time for Young Children

There are a number of videos helping kids learn to tell time. This is one of our favorites.  learn more

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Time Zones

This site provides an overview of Time Zones, what are they and why we have so many of them. Who knew the International Date Line created 3 extra…  learn more

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A Walk Through Time - Ancient Calendars

This on-line essay on the history of timekeeping was conceived and written by Kent Higgins and illustrated by Darwin Miner, of the Program Information Office of the National…  learn more