← Spark & Whetstone · The Pool Deck Is a Maths Room
A pace clock counts to sixty. Tell it the send-off and how many to swim, and it shows where on the dial each one leaves — the places join into a shape — then runs the set when you press Start. Prop the screen where everyone can see it.
Try :40, :45, 1:35 or 1:50. Each send-off moves the leaving place round the dial.
| Swim | Leaves after | Hand on |
|---|
The clock is still. Press Start when the first swimmer is ready.
The hand comes back to the top every sixty seconds. A send-off that shares a lot with sixty visits few places: :30 gives a line, :40 a triangle, :45 a square. One that shares little visits many: 1:35 is twelve places, a twelve-point star. The number of places is sixty divided by what the send-off and sixty have in common. The course The Pool Deck Is a Maths Room has the whole idea in four short lessons; children meet it in Send-offs (ages 6–8) and The Star (ages 9–14) on Spark & Anvil.
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