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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Gorilla and pizza timer

A free animated classroom timer: a gorilla working through a pizza, and the last slice goes exactly as the time runs out. Any length, counting down or up, with the clock a small chip in the corner.

5:00

Keys: Space start or pause · R reset · ← → 30 seconds · 1 8 the presets · S next scene · U count up or down · C move or hide the clock · M sound · H hear the sound · F full screen

How to use it

  1. Press Start, or Space. The picture is the time: a gorilla working through a pizza, and the last slice goes exactly as the time runs out.
  2. It opens at 5 minutes. Press a preset, or Custom to type a length such as 7:30; press U to count up to the time instead of down to zero.
  3. Press F to fill the screen, C to move or hide the clock chip, M for the sound and H to hear it first.

Ideas for class

  • Put eight slices on the screen for a five minute tidy-up and let the class call out how many are left.
  • Use it for a quick-write: one slice a minute is a pace a child can feel without reading a number.
  • Ask a child who cannot tell the time yet to be the one who says when the gorilla is halfway.
  • Run it counting up while a group builds something, so the pizza is made rather than eaten.
  • Leave it on the projector for a test and turn the sound off with M: the picture alone says how long is left.

Related

Questions

How many slices are there, and does each one mean something?

Eight. Each slice is an eighth of the time you set, whatever the length is: on a four minute timer a slice is thirty seconds, on a forty minute one it is five minutes. The slice being eaten shrinks as it goes, so the last stretch always moves.

Will a gorilla eating a pizza distract my class?

It is one picture that does one thing, with no points, no music and nothing to tap. If a class is working rather than watching, press C and the clock chip disappears too, or use the plain countdown timer instead.

Will the gorilla and pizza timer keep the right time if I switch tabs?

Yes. The timer compares the clock when you pressed Start with the clock now, so a sleeping tab, a slow laptop or a dropped frame cannot make it drift, and the picture is drawn from the time rather than from its own speed.

Is it really free, and does it need an account?

Free, no account, no ads, and nothing about your class leaves the computer: the length, the picture and the direction live in the address after the # so you can bookmark or share them, and that part is never sent to us.

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