Time, Days and Seconds: a week of ready-to-teach maths

Five days of lessons for Year 3 Measurement. Print this pack and the week is prepared: each day has a one-page plan and a student worksheet, plus event cards, time match cards, a mini-check and every answer.

Start here: five minutes to Monday

1. Skim the week at a glance on the next page.
2. Print the five days. Each day is two A4 sheets: a plan and a worksheet.
3. Cut out the event cards and the time match cards once; they are reused all week.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board. Every plan tells you which picture to show and which buttons to press.
5. Teach straight from the plan. Timings, talk prompts, misconceptions and answers are all on the one page.

No maths background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Time has its own units: seconds, minutes, hours and days. Two numbers link them: 60 seconds make a minute and 60 minutes make an hour, and 24 hours make a day. Children use these to change a time into a smaller unit, to estimate how long things take, and to compare durations written in different units.

One day, one lesson

The five lessons fill a week of maths, one lesson of about 50 minutes a day. Run them in order: each day stands on the one before. Every plan marks a split point if your timetable runs two shorter sessions.

The week at a glance

One lesson a day for a week. Each day stands on the day before, so run them in order.

How the week builds

Days 1 and 2 meet the units and the numbers that link them. Day 3 uses those numbers to change units, Day 4 estimates and times real events, and Day 5 puts it together to compare and order durations. It leans on Length, Mass and Capacity (AC9M3M02) and on Multiply and Divide (AC9M3N04).

Materials for the week (one trip)

• From the classroom: scissors, pencils, this pack printed, a wall clock with a second hand.
• A timer or stopwatch for each group (a phone or tablet timer is fine for the teacher).
• A short song to play (about 3 minutes) for a minutes benchmark on Day 4.
• Cut out once, use all week: the event cards and the time match cards in this pack.

Words for the word wall

second, minute, hour, day, duration, half an hour, quarter of an hour, longer, shorter, estimate, time it, timer, convert

Dear families

This week in maths, Year 3 is learning about units of time (seconds, minutes, hours and days), how they fit together, and how to estimate how long things take.

Try this at home

• Estimate, then time: how long to brush teeth, set the table, or walk to the letterbox?
• Ask: how many minutes in an hour? In half an hour? How many hours in a day?
• Compare: which is longer, a 90-minute movie or a 2-hour footy match?
• Count seconds together while waiting: one-thousand, two-thousand, three-thousand.

Our timings this week

Fill one row a day: an everyday event, your estimate, and the time it really took.

Printed from the free seegongsik Time, Days and Seconds teaching pack · seegongsik.com/au/y3/measurement/AC9M3M03/pack

The ladder of time

Time has its own units, from small to big: second, minute, hour, day. A second is about one clap; a minute is long enough to write your name a few times; an hour is a long lesson; a day runs from one midnight to the next.

We are learning to

• name the units of time from smallest to biggest: second, minute, hour, day,
• get a feel for how long a second and a minute last,
• say which unit suits an everyday event.

Success criteria

• I can order the units of time.
• I can show about how long a second and a minute are.

You need

A clock with a second hand, or a timer you can show the class. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? Split after the one-minute challenges; start Session B with the events.

Watch for these ideas

• Thinking 50 minutes is longer than 1 hour because 50 is more than 1. Compare the units too.
• Counting seconds too fast. Check against the second hand of a clock.
• Using one unit for everything. Choose the unit that gives a sensible number.

Answers

• Order: second, minute, hour, day.
• One-minute challenges: answers vary. Check that the estimate came before the timing.
• Units: a blink seconds; a school holiday days; watching a movie hours; eating an apple minutes; a sneeze seconds; a night of sleep hours.

The ladder of time

Order the units

Write these from smallest to biggest: day, second, hour, minute

______________  <  ______________  <  ______________  <  ______________

One-minute challenges

Estimate first. Then a partner times one minute while you do it.

Which unit?

Write seconds, minutes, hours or days.

Sixty and twenty-four

Two numbers run the clock: 60 seconds make a minute, 60 minutes make an hour, and 24 hours make a day. Half an hour is 30 minutes and a quarter of an hour is 15 minutes. Time counts in 60s, not in 100s.

We are learning to

• know that 60 seconds = 1 minute, 60 minutes = 1 hour and 24 hours = 1 day,
• use these for half and quarter hours (30 and 15 minutes),
• see the 60 minutes on a clock face, 5 minutes for each number.

Success criteria

• I can say the seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour and hours in a day.
• I can say the minutes in half and a quarter of an hour.

You need

A clock face with minute marks, on the board or a teaching clock. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? Split after the clock face; start Session B with the facts.

Watch for these ideas

• Thinking an hour is 100 minutes, as a metre is 100 cm. Time counts in 60s.
• Saying a day is 12 hours. The hour hand goes round twice a day: 24 hours.
• Mixing the 60s and the 24. Sixty links seconds, minutes and hours; 24 links hours and days.

Answers

• Clock boxes: 5 beside the 1, then 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 beside the 12.
• Facts: 60, 60, 24, 30, 15, 12, 30, 45.
• True or false: There are 60 hours in a day: false, there are 24; Half an hour is 30 minutes: true; A minute is 100 seconds: false, it is 60 seconds; 24 hours make one day: true.

Sixty and twenty-four

True or false?

Circle true or false. Fix each false one.

There are 60 hours in a day.   true / false   ______________________

Half an hour is 30 minutes.   true / false   ______________________

A minute is 100 seconds.   true / false   ______________________

24 hours make one day.   true / false   ______________________

Change the unit

To change a time into a smaller unit, multiply: 2 hours is 2 × 60 = 120 minutes, 3 minutes is 3 × 60 = 180 seconds, and 2 days is 2 × 24 = 48 hours. A smaller unit needs more of it, so the number gets bigger.

We are learning to

• change hours to minutes and minutes to seconds by multiplying by 60,
• change days to hours by multiplying by 24,
• explain why the number gets bigger when the unit gets smaller.

Success criteria

• I can change a time into a smaller unit.
• I can say why the number gets bigger.

You need

The time match cards (cut-out sheet 2), one set per pair. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? Split after the table; start Session B with the stories and Time match.

Watch for these ideas

• Dividing to change to a smaller unit. A smaller unit needs more of it, so multiply.
• Multiplying days by 60. Days and hours are linked by 24.
• Thinking 120 minutes lasts longer than 2 hours. They are the same time in different units.

Answers

• 2 hours = 120 minutes; 4 hours = 240 minutes; 5 hours = 300 minutes; 2 minutes = 120 seconds; 5 minutes = 300 seconds; 10 minutes = 600 seconds; 2 days = 48 hours; 3 days = 72 hours.
• Stories: 2 × 60 = 120 minutes; 3 × 24 = 72 hours; 3 × 60 = 180 seconds.
• Time match: the pairs are listed in the cut-out teacher note.

Change the unit

Change it

Example: 3 hours = 3 × 60 = 180 minutes.

Stories

1. A movie lasts 2 hours. How many minutes is that? ______________________

2. A school camp lasts 3 days. How many hours is that? ______________________

3. Sam’s swim race took 3 minutes. How many seconds is that? ______________________

Estimate the duration

Estimating a duration means choosing a sensible unit and number: clapping once takes about 1 second, brushing your teeth about 2 minutes, a night’s sleep about 9 hours. Then time the event to check how close the estimate was.

We are learning to

• choose a sensible unit for how long an event lasts,
• estimate the duration of an event, then time it to check,
• use benchmarks (a clap is about a second; a song is about 3 minutes).

Success criteria

• I can estimate how long an event takes, with a sensible unit.
• I can time an event to check.

You need

A timer for each group, a short song to play, connecting cubes and a reading book. The event cards (cut-out sheet 1). The worksheet.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? Split after three timed events; start Session B with the rest and the card sort.

Watch for these ideas

• Choosing a sensible number with the wrong unit (2 hours to brush teeth). Check the unit first.
• Thinking an estimate must match the timer exactly. Close is good.
• Starting or stopping the timer late. Agree on the start and the end before timing.

Answers

• Timed events: answers vary; most take seconds (under a minute) or a minute or two. Check each estimate came first.
• Sensible: a footy match about 2 hours; a sneeze about 1 second; making toast about 3 minutes; a long car trip to the next city about 4 hours.
• Card sort: the sort is in the cut-out teacher note.

Estimate the duration

Estimate, then time it

Write your estimate with a unit before you start the timer.

Circle the sensible estimate

a footy match:  about 2 minutes / about 2 hours / about 2 days

a sneeze:  about 1 second / about 1 minute / about 1 hour

making toast:  about 3 seconds / about 3 minutes / about 3 hours

a long car trip to the next city:  about 4 seconds / about 4 minutes / about 4 hours

Compare and order durations

To compare two durations, put them in the same unit. 90 seconds or 1 minute? A minute is 60 seconds, so 90 seconds is longer. To order events, look at the unit first, then the number: 50 seconds is shorter than 2 minutes.

We are learning to

• compare two durations by changing them into the same unit,
• order events from shortest to longest,
• explain a comparison with the 60s and the 24.

Success criteria

• I can compare two durations.
• I can order events by how long they take.

You need

The event cards (cut-out sheet 1), one set per group. The worksheet. The unit’s self-check quiz.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? Split after Which is longer?; start Session B with the ordering and the quiz.

Watch for these ideas

• Comparing the numbers only (20 hours beats 1 day because 20 is more than 1). Use one unit.
• Ordering by the number and ignoring the unit (2 minutes before 50 seconds). Check units first.
• Taking a day as 12 hours. A day is 24 hours.

Answers

• 100 seconds or 2 minutes: 100 and 120 seconds, so 2 minutes; 3 hours or 200 minutes: 180 and 200 minutes, so 200 minutes; 2 days or 40 hours: 48 and 40 hours, so 2 days; half an hour or 25 minutes: 30 and 25 minutes, so half an hour; 5 minutes or 280 seconds: 300 and 280 seconds, so 5 minutes; 1 hour or 70 minutes: 60 and 70 minutes, so 70 minutes.
• Order: a blink, brushing teeth, a lunch break, a footy match, a weekend.
• Opening: 150 minutes is longer, because 2 hours is 120 minutes.

Compare and order durations

Which is longer?

Put both in the same unit first. 1 minute = 60 seconds, 1 hour = 60 minutes, 1 day = 24 hours.

Order the events

Write them from shortest to longest.

Event cards

Cut out the sixteen cards. On Day 4, groups sort them into seconds, minutes, hours and days. On Day 5, they put a handful in order from shortest to longest.

Teacher note, a sensible sort: seconds: a blink, a sneeze, tying a shoelace, clapping 10 times; minutes: brushing your teeth, eating an apple, a song on the radio, boiling an egg; hours: a movie, a school day, a night of sleep, a footy match; days: a weekend, a camping trip, a school holiday, a chicken egg hatching. A school holiday could also be weeks; accept a good reason.

Time match cards

Cut out the twenty-four cards. On Day 3, pairs lay them face down and take turns to turn over two; a pair that names the same time is kept.

Teacher note, the pairs: 60 seconds and 1 minute, 120 minutes and 2 hours, 48 hours and 2 days, 180 seconds and 3 minutes, 30 minutes and half an hour, 15 minutes and a quarter of an hour, 24 hours and 1 day, 60 minutes and 1 hour, 72 hours and 3 days, 300 seconds and 5 minutes, 90 minutes and 1 and a half hours, 240 seconds and 4 minutes.

What we know: Time, Days and Seconds

Work on your own.

1. Order the units, smallest first: hour, second, day, minute. ______________________________
2. 1 hour = ______ minutes    1 day = ______ hours    1 minute = ______ seconds
3. Half an hour = ______ minutes
4. 3 hours = ______ minutes
5. 2 minutes = ______ seconds
6. Circle the sensible estimate. Eating a sandwich takes about: 5 seconds / 5 minutes / 5 hours
7. Which is longer, 1 day or 30 hours? ______ Why? ______________________
8. Order from shortest to longest: 2 hours, 90 minutes, 100 seconds. ______________________________

Answers and marking guide

Answers

1. Second, minute, hour, day.
2. 60; 24; 60.
3. 30.
4. 180 (3 × 60).
5. 120 (2 × 60).
6. About 5 minutes.
7. 30 hours, because 1 day is 24 hours.
8. 100 seconds, 90 minutes, 2 hours (120 minutes).

A quick three-level guide

Eight questions, three ideas. A child at standard changes a unit before comparing and says which relationship (60 or 24) they used.

Weekly class record

Jot a tick as you move around the room; the mini-check fills any gaps. A tick a day is plenty.

The five columns are the five days: units of time, the 60s and 24, changing units, estimating, and comparing and ordering.