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Hi all - I am need of purchasing new stopwatches for my classroom and am wondering what other teachers use. I would like to get some that won't go dead after 6 months. Any suggestions? Thanks so much! Kathryn

Hi Kathryn,
My favorite brand is the MyChron stopwatch. I am not promoting the Scientific catalog here; I just wanted to use the URL to show you a picture of what it looks like. I purchased a set of 10 about 4 years ago. I have yet to have to replace a battery. They take watch batteries, and if you don't use them very often, the batteries stay 'good' for (as you can see) a long time. If you plan to use them several times a semester, you may need to replace the batteries more often, but you should still be able to get a couple of years' use per battery. FLINN Scientific has a similar one that may even be a better deal. Shop around.
It might be kind of fun to share ideas for how we use stop watches in our classrooms. Besides a favorite model, how do others use this item in their classrooms/labs?

I often put them out with other supplies and materials when I am inviting my students to design their own experiments to solve a problem. Seeing the stopwatches will often trigger their using time as one of their variables in their experimental designs.

Carolyn

Kathryn, have you seen the 'egg' timer? It's free.

I too use the MyChron stopwatches. I bought several sets of them close to 20 years ago and believe it or not, they are still working and have never replaced a battery. I have tried a variety of other brands, but found that traditional stopwatches stop working because of button failure or parts of the LED screen go bad. I teach middle school and lots of my students ask if they can just use the one on their cell phone. Generally I let them because they are familiar with it. And yes, we do have a rule at my school about cell phone use, but in my room, if there is a genuine educational use, I allow them to use them.

I also use MyChron and find them to be very useful.

Hi Kathryn, Have you purchased your stop watches yet? I am wondering what you decided upon. I also liked Adah's idea of 'borrowing' from the athletic dept. I did that for a few years until money became available to purchase my own for the science dept. As soon as the art and home ec dept. found out, they were borrowing from us. It is great when your school's teachers work together to share resources.