That last lab was pretty calculation intensive. This one will not
be quite so bad. It will require some time to do properly. You will need
the following supplies.
It is very easy to do. First you will need to draw a light line 1" in from one edge of the board.
As you can see fron the image above there is a line drawn on the south and east side of the board. Then on the south side of the board, draw a mark 6" in from either the east or west side of the board. This will be your location of the gnomon it'self. Before you go on, label the board as I have in the diagram. The south end of the board will have the gnomon an will face due south. The reason for the line on the east sie is to help you line your board up for the excercise. All you have to do is lay your compass on the north/south line a rotate the board until it is pointing due south.
Now let's construct our gnomon. You will need a wooden dowel or a pencil 4" long. Now if you can possibly do this drill of hole at the gnomon location for the pencil or dowel to go in. It does not have to be very deep. Just enough to keep the pencil/dowel exactly 90 degrees to the board. But make sure the pencil/dowel is 4" above the board, when you cut the gnomon to length leave alittle extra to put in the hole to glue. Sharpen somewhat the end to a point. Not sharp enough to IMPALE but to allow a crisp shadow point. (Before you glue it to the board) Outstanding!! Your gnomon board is ready for some serious science. Look in your lab manual to the solar noon lab and read how the lab is done. This lab is pretty easy to do. Make sure you don't move the gnomon board during the course of the excersise. Once your data is recorded than you are done outside. The only real effort you must put in, is in the time outside. Why miss some time outside. It will be beautiful weather, enjoy it.
The tricky part comes when calculating the altitude of the sun. Everyone seems to have different calculators, so what you need to do is consult your manaul to your calculator. You need to know how to use the INV or 2nd fuction keys. To get the altitude you will divide the shadow length by the gnomon length. This is the tangent of the altitude. You will then have to hit "INV" or "2nd" to allow the calculator to give you the altitude in degrees. As I mentioned each calculator is different so you need to find out how to use these functions.
I will be doing the lab as well and when I am done I will post what
I did here for you to follow along with.