Elapsed Time with Number Line and Clocks

Telling time is challenging for many students. This is likely a function of the abstract nature of time is. You cannot see or touch it. You experience observe it through a clock. Elapsed time is more abstract and challenging. An entry point to elapsed time may be student experience with walking from one point to another. This post details the a Google Jamboard that leverages this prior knowledge to present elapsed time.

The images below are from a handout to introduce elapsed time. This a revised version of another handout I created. The sequence in chunked to incrementally present additional elements. A number line is used to model, first on Jamboard then on a handout, then clocks are introduced. The first problem has an exact hour on the second clock to make it more simple but to still include minutes.

The clocks were created on math-aids.com, which has a page to allow you to choose times to be represented on clocks. They create clocks with color coded hands, which I follow with highlighters on the handouts and Jamboard.

First, the identify the the upcoming whole hour and marks the hands with highlighters or colored pens or pencils.

Determine the number of minutes to the hour.

Identify the whole hour preceding the second time and marks accordingly.

Determine the number of minutes from the whole hour to the second time.

Use the green marks used to identify the whole hours and determine how many hours passed.

I did not create a spot to write the answer to cut back on visuals.

The first page provides an introduction to the use of the number line without having to process the clocks.

Mark the whole hours.

Determine the number of minutes preceding and following the whole hours.

Determine the number of hours that passed.

A Jamboard is used to model the first 4 problems to engage the students kinesthetically and to unpack the concept. The students can do a Jamboard slide then work on the matching problem on the handout. (See photo at bottom for access.)

On the handout, I addressed the minutes of both clocks before determining hours. The Jamboard person can be used to flesh out the concept of time passing as the person walks. As a result, I suggest determining the hours before the minutes on the second clock as the person walks the entire way. When you return to the handout, you can reference the person walking the last 10 minutes and even show the students the Jamboard again when you do those minutes before determining hours.

Make a copy of the Jamboard in order to use it.

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