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*Nordic Witch* · 01-20-2012, 07:37 AM

The months flied by in gush of leaves and when Edvard was prepared and ready to hold his first lesson of the term they were entering October. The leaves had taken on a fuller red or brown and yellow colour as the storms started to pick up and the first snow was hanging in the air. Edvard couldn’t help that he had been a bit preoccupied up till now with fixing the observatory and hosting his challenge.

Clad in magnificent space coloured robes he took up his place at the front in his oak desk with the evening Prophet stuck under his nose as per usual at the start of a lesson. It was Edvards way of getting into teaching mode.The desks are arranged in a typical classroom fashion today with neat rows and parchments on each desk. Make use of the parchment. On the black Professor Roslund has written in his curvy distinctive hand writing.

Quote:

Welcome to another term of Astronomy!!!

Please take a moment and write your name, house and year on the parchments and they will magically turn into name plates.

Opening the Prophet on the first page Edvard engaged himself in the latest news after the cult of Walpurgis throw down, apparently there had been a ball at the Ministry.

Occ:~~Make yourselves comfortable. We'll officially start in a few hours. Keep the chit-chat to a minimum.~~ Class has started! Acquaint yourself with the Rules, if you haven't done so already. All Astronomy classes are set at night after dinner.

Lesson progression:
Celebratory astronomy robes and duck slippers
First questions + Welcome
Answers + moving on

RachieRu · 01-22-2012, 06:55 PM

"I think it can still be used" Indiana mused with a smile, as she raised her hand. "I mean, if we know how to properly use the sundial, then I believe we can still use them." Muggles obviously just didn't know how to use them properly. Indy smiled at the professor, thinking some more about her answer. "But then in a way, I dont think we should rely on them, because as you have said they aren't as reliable as othe forms of telling the time." Which was pretty obvious. They did have to depend on the sun after all. Imagine if the sun wasn't around? Nobody would be able to tell the time. "So I do think we can still use them at times, but we should also use other forms of time telling as well."

natethegreat · 01-22-2012, 06:57 PM

Nate raises his hand and says "Professor I think it is still an important wizarding tool."

FireboltAvis88 · 01-22-2012, 07:20 PM

Alyssa thought for awhile before raising her hand, "Professor, despite the new mechanical devices that muggles and others have come up with to measure time, I believe that sundials can still be used to tell time, because it uses the sun to measure it. The sun will never go away and will never break down like most mechanical devices do. The Sun is the most natural form of telling time, and the sun dial although being considered archaic by modern standards, doesn't have moving gadgets and parts that will break or slow down, and will always give an accurate reading, as long as the sun is in the sky."

Then Alyssa thought,'But what happens at night when there's no sun.' but she didn't dare raise that question. Maybe later.

Magical Soul · 01-22-2012, 07:23 PM

Louisa watched as professor Roslund explained the sundial's work. This kind of sundials were quite beautiful looking, not like the simple ancient ones she saw in history books. However, his questions made her focus again.

Use them now? Well.. maybe not? Louisa raised her hand, "I don't think they're used for time nowadays, sir. Maybe they're just decoration? Especially now that there are gold, silver and maybe iron kinds of it?" The girl trailed away before an idea popped up in her head, "What about metal charmers, sir? Maybe they enchant them? Like.. making them tools to indicate other signs. Say like, signs of people's moods." How did that work with the Roman numbers, she had no idea. Oh well, it was just a guess. Maybe a wild one too. Hehe.

TakemetotheBurrow · 01-22-2012, 07:27 PM

Quote:

"One last question on the sun dial before we move on. Do you think a sun dial still can be of use to us wizards and witches today in the modern wizarding world? Or has it been degraded to only be a mere garden decoration instead of an important object.

Ella thought about the question, furrowing her brows in deep thought. On the one hand, her mother seemed to be under the impression that the sundial was just a pretty garden decoration. On the other hand, wizards and witches seemed to get a lot from things in nature...like ingredients for potions and guidance from the stars and planets...it must still be important. "Professor, I think sundials are still important in that they will still be helpful even when technology fails...even if they are heavier to carry around then a little wrist watch." She wasn't trying to be funny. It was true, Ella had to get a new watch battery several times already!

Lissy Longbottom · 01-22-2012, 07:49 PM

Alex raised his hand. "Well, I think they CAN still be used, but with new technology both in the muggle world and our own world, they're pretty much outdated and not really a practical way to tell time anymore," he explained. "Of course, that doesn't mean people can't use them if they want to...it's just a lot easier to use a watch or something else," he added. He personally would never use a sundial but if someone else wanted to...why not?

SilverDragon · 01-22-2012, 07:50 PM

Silvia raised her hand. "I think sundials can still be useful. We might not need them to tell time anymore, but they can be a visual tool when teaching about how the field of astronomy developed in the past. And during the day, they may be more accurate than clocks, because clocks can stop working suddenly. They aren't very helpful at night or when it's cloudy, but couldn't you use the position of the stars to tell time at night?"

Somnium · 01-22-2012, 07:52 PM

Taylor raised her hand, "Professor, i think that it is still important and useful. It is sometimes better than the other time telling devices since, it will never be slow, if the sun is out and it isnt cloudy, but it is sometimes wrong since there is sometimes no sun so we cant rely on them entirely.

MudInMyBlood · 01-22-2012, 08:01 PM

Well she was way off, but now that she knew what it was she was ready to get back into action. "I think they are still useful now. It is something that will always work. I also think it is important to not do away with anything just because there are other ways to achieve something." She said with her hand raised. She hoped that she made sense.

WhittyBitty · 01-22-2012, 08:04 PM

YAY! Amelia got another three points. Not that she was obsessed with points earning, but it still felt nice to get them. She raised her hand again. "I believe that they can still be useful for telling time if you know how to do it properly. They're sort of outdated, but some people like that kind of thing. Even in the Wizarding world. For one thing, they can't really malfunction or break unless you shatter them of course. They just aren't the most convenient thing to carry around." She looked at the object closely. No, not the most convenient. "Anyway, they are a part of history and have served an important function before other inventions had been made. They'd always be useful." She nodded now.

Sneakeh Cat · 01-22-2012, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

"One last question on the sun dial before we move on. Do you think a sun dial still can be of use to us wizards and witches today in the modern wizarding world? Or has it been degraded to only be a mere garden decoration instead of an important object."

Zayden, who hadn't really been paying attention the last ten minutes or so, raised his hand. "Professor, I don't think muggle phone applications are garden decorations." Yes, he did think a sundial was something to do with a muggle phone. ~~FORGIVEHIM.~~ "But yes, they are very helpful in the wizarding world today because I think if everyone had a muggle phone and... erm, how do I put it? If they used it correctly, it's very helpful in contacting people all across the world and just for pure entertainment; however, I don't know much about this sundial application. Is it new?"

...

WhittyBitty · 01-22-2012, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sneakeh Cat

Zayden, who hadn't really been paying attention the last ten minutes or so, raised his hand. "Professor, I don't think muggle phone applications are garden decorations." Yes, he did think a sundial was something to do with a muggle phone. ~~FORGIVEHIM.~~ "But yes, they are very helpful in the wizarding world today because I think if everyone had a muggle phone and... erm, how do I put it? If they used it correctly, it's very helpful in contacting people all across the world and just for pure entertainment; however, I don't know much about this sundial application. Is it new?"

...

Amelia actually snorted now. Oh, goodness! Her boyfriend was so adorable sometimes. She leaned over to Zayden who was sitting beside her so that she could whisper into his ear.

"Baby, sundials don't have anything to do with phones. They are instruments for telling time via the sun."

Devina Wellheart · 01-22-2012, 08:31 PM

Justin listened as the other students were answering the question." Professor, I think that a sundial is more useful as they don't break the way modren timepieces do now. I don't think they sould be forgotten. Besides they come in all sort of sizes. "

Bazinga · 01-22-2012, 08:36 PM

Minerva listened to a few answers and then put up her hand. "Well professor I think they can still be useful, but I think astronomers, wizards, or anyone else using them need to use everything they can. Alyssa mention the sun will never go away, but when using that instrument what happens if it is a cloudy or rainy day? There is no sun to place a shadow. So I feel it can be an accurate and a reliable way to measure time when the sun is around, but we need to have other ways when the sun is not out." she hoped she was making sense with her answer.

Kimalia · 01-22-2012, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

"One last question on the sun dial before we move on. Do you think a sun dial still can be of use to us wizards and witches today in the modern wizarding world? Or has it been degraded to only be a mere garden decoration instead of an important object."

So Kimalia was wrong, no biggie. She would've been surprised if otherwise. Nooow, after jotting down the correct answers that were given, she rose her hand for this one. "Maybe not as the only means, but given its history it's a good use for guidance." Same with any antique, really. "There may be more finer objects and ways of producing the same information, but it's never good to forget where it started from."

PhoenixWizard · 01-22-2012, 10:22 PM

Raising her hand Angelina said, "Professor I think it still the sundial can be used, it can be more corect than something else. The problem is it can only be used with the sun visable." She kept it somewhat short and simple, she didn't want to get to much in detail.

Gabrielle · 01-22-2012, 10:46 PM

Glenn frowned, hmm. How could she answer this question, "I think it's important to remember history of things, maybe one day other technology will stop working but there will always be the sun, well, for millions of years to come anyway. But you'll still have the sun dial to roughly tell the time." Those were her two cents anyway, she couldn't think what it could be used for apart from that, but then again, maybe the Professor would tell them that later.

Deezerz · 01-22-2012, 11:32 PM

Kennedy raised his hand to this one. It was more of an opinion than fact. "I don't think it has necessarily been degraded to a mere garden decoration...it's just that with all the new modern inventions it really doesn't possess the use that it did before," he said. "Or, it could also be that the human race prefers the simpler way to learning and use more modern utilities, thus the sun dial not being much of an importance anymore." No offense to anyone, of course. He was one of those humans.

It was like when he was younger. He was really into his Power Ranger toys, but when his mom bought him a bicycle it was like, "later Rangers, hello bike", but it didn't mean that his toys lost their initial value to him.

Hey Ju · 01-22-2012, 11:36 PM

Sophie smirked. Raising her hand before she spoke, she began talking happily. "Professor, you wouldn't have these things here if they weren't useful still, would you?" It was a really cool decoration thingy, but Sophie didn't think is was useless now. She stopped to think for a few seconds before she went on. "I think it can still be used in um... making sure if your watch or whatever is right! I mean, it can go all crazy and miss the track of time sometimes, so the sundial should help us know the time to correct it!" Uh... it could do that! Anyway. "But yeah, apart from that, I don't really know what else it can be used for. Maybe something with planets positioning?" Now that was a guess. But then again, it was worth a try.

Jessiqua · 01-23-2012, 12:33 AM

Quote:

"One last question on the sun dial before we move on. Do you think a sun dial still can be of use to us wizards and witches today in the modern wizarding world? Or has it been degraded to only be a mere garden decoration instead of an important object."

Zhenya had a bit of a think and remembered that some Wizarding homes, schools, buildings etc. didn't work with electricity which the Muggles used. She raised her hand, "Professor, although clocks are definitely more reliable, I think it's definitely a good item to have just in case. Also, it's a good skill to pick up, I guess. I know some Wizarding places don't work well with electricity and therefore it is a good substitution for a clock," she said.

dracomalfoylover1 · 01-23-2012, 12:55 AM

Stacy raised her hand and said, "I think sundials are unreliable because sometimes we have cloudy and rainy days. How are we going to tell time then? But, we could use the sundials as a backup because some Wizarding places don't have electricity."

sweetpinkpixie · 01-23-2012, 03:02 AM

Kurumi thought for a moment before raising her hand. "I don't see why they wouldn't be useful. They tell time based on the movement of the sun, so unless the sun were to vanish...which would be bad for us all. As long as you are able to locate North, which you could do easily with a Point Me spell, you can position the sundail properly and get a pretty accurate reading." Besides, if you were stuck in the middle of no where, a sundial could be helpful. A little impractical, but still helpful. "Since actual time telling devices have been invented, people do not feel the need to use sundials, considering them rather primitive. There is also a small margin of error between the two hemispheres, which adds to their use not being as sought after anymore...not to mention that you have to have a lot of sunlight, so summer is the most practical of times." Kurumi paused for a moment, cocking her head to the other side. "That being said, while they can still be used...other means have been created so that we do not NEED them to tell time and, as you said professor, have been degraded to being a garden decoration. Their complex science and calculations forgotten."

Because, honestly, if they were all outside of the classroom and asked if they thought using a sundial to help them tell the time was a good way to go about things, how many people would honestly say that they would choose that over a more convenient method?

RandomRaven · 01-23-2012, 05:05 AM

Raven raised her hand and tried to answer.

"I think The sundial are still used by some wizards and witches, but not many. Because sundial has some weakness. It was too BIG to carry on so nowadays wizards loved to use pocket watch. Besides that, it only determine the sun position, how if the weather was not sunny, maybe it was cloudy or rainy?" she said.

Well.. It makes sense, right?

KP1 · 01-23-2012, 05:14 AM

Ryan thought about the question and raised his hand''I don't think many Witches and Wizards use them because they may have better technology,plus it sometimes can't tell the exact time which may lead to some accidents.''He said to the Professor.

Poolicious · 01-23-2012, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

"One last question on the sun dial before we move on. Do you think a sun dial still can be of use to us wizards and witches today in the modern wizarding world? Or has it been degraded to only be a mere garden decoration instead of an important object."

Messer listened carefully when Professor Roslund explained to them more about the sun dial and he also took a few notes it might come in handy later on.

Then before he finished his notes, the Astronomy Professor already asking them the next question. Messer raised his hand up "I think it still can be use to us, Sir. Even though its only work with the sun visible. Beside its important to us to know where did the modern devices come from." he said.

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