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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Popcorn pot timer

A free animated classroom timer: a pot of popcorn popping faster and faster, and the lid flies off at zero. Any length, counting down or up, with the clock a small chip in the corner.

3:00

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 pot of popcorn popping faster and faster, and the lid flies off at zero.
  2. It opens at 3 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

  • Use it for a three minute brain break: the pops get busier, so the class can hear the time going.
  • Put it on the screen for a quick tidy-up and let the lid be the finish line.
  • Count the kernels still to pop with a young class: twelve of them, twelve twelfths.
  • Run it counting up while a bowl fills, for a job the class is adding to.
  • Use it on a Friday afternoon, when a timer that bursts at the end is the right timer.

Related

Questions

Does it get louder towards the end?

The pops come closer together as the kernels go, and the lid is the loudest moment. It is the busiest sound in the set, so check the volume before a quiet room: Soft, Room and Hall are the three settings, and H plays it for you first.

What happens counting up?

A big striped bowl fills pop by pop until it is heaped, which suits a reward at the end of a job rather than a deadline.

Will the popcorn pot 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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