Time to the Minute
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Basics on the topic Time to the Minute
Telling the Time to the Nearest Minute
You need to know the time to leave the house so that you can be at school on time. You may also need to know the time to go to bed. Therefore, you need to be able to read the time on an analogue clock or watch.
An analogue clock or watch shows the time by using the movement of a short and long hand. The short hand shows the hour and is sometimes called the hour hand while the long hand shows the minutes and is sometimes called the minute hand.
An analogue clock or watch looks like this:
Telling Time to the Nearest Minute – Step by Step Instructions
To tell the time to the minute, we need to look at the hour hand and the minute hand separately. Then we put the two numbers that we get together to tell the time.
You can follow these steps to tell the time to the minute:
- Step 1: Start by finding the hour. We can find the hour by looking for the last number that the hour hand has passed. If we use the clock above as our example, we notice that the hour hand has just passed two.
This means that the hour is two which we can write as 2.
- Step 2: Find the number of minutes that have passed after the hour. To do this, we can count in fives and then count on until we reach the minute hand. We can demonstrate this with our example. We count in fives until we reach 7 which gives us 35. Then we count on in ones until we reach the minute hand. This gives us 37.
Therefore, it is 37 minutes past the hour.
- Step 3: We now put the hour and the minute together by first writing the hour and then the minute. We separate them using a colon :. This will give us the exact time. Therefore, our time is 2:37.
Telling Time to the Minute – Summary
Let’s repeat what we have learnt about how to tell time to the minute.
Telling time to the minute requires us to look at the hour hand, the minute hand, and to count on. First, we tell the hour by looking at the last number that the hour hand has just passed. Next, we count in fives and count on until we reach the minute hand. We put these two numbers together, making sure that we write the hour first and then the minute to give the time.
For more telling time to the nearest minute activities, use our interactive exercises, telling the time to the nearest minute worksheet and even your clock or watch at home to master the skill of telling time to the minute.
Telling Time to the Minute – Frequently Asked Questions
Transcript Time to the Minute
"Do you hear that noise?" "Yeah, what is that?" "I don't know. It sounds cool, let's go check it out!" "Welcome one, welcome all to the annual snail race!" "A snail race? Wohoo!" While Zuri and Freddie watch the snail race, they will need to use the analog clock tower in the park to tell time to the minute. "Time to the Minute" How can you tell time to the exact minute? You can tell time to the exact minute by counting in steps and counting up. "Look at the time, we're already at the ant obstacle." Let's help Zuri and Freddie figure out what time the clock says. Step one: start by finding the hour hand. We can do this by finding the last hour the HOUR hand (or the short hand) passed. Here the last number the HOUR hand (or the short hand) passed, was two. So the hour is two. Now we need to find out how many MINUTES of the hour have passed. We can count in steps and count up to find how many minutes have passed. Let's count in FIVES together until we reach the minute hand. Remember, counting in steps is when you count forward by a certain number. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five. Now we can find the exact minute by counting up. Thirty-six, thirty-seven. The minute is thirty-seven. Step three: put the hour and minute together to find the exact time. If we do that, the time is 2:37. "Now we're at the butterfly obstacle!" "What time is it?" Let's help Zuri and Freddie figure out what time it is. Remember, step one is to find the hour by looking at what number the HOUR hand last passed. What is the hour? The last number the RED hour hand passed was three, so the hour is three. What is the minute? Remember, step two is to find the minute by counting in steps, or, counting up. We can count in steps, or count up until we reach the BLUE minute hand. Let's count together! Five, ten, fifteen. Now we count up to the exact minute. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. The minute is eighteen. Finally step three, put the hour and minute together. So the time is 3:18. "Next up is the ladybird obstacle." "Wow! They got there so fast!" "No way! What time is it now?" We know that some time has passed, but can you help Zuri and Freddie find the exact time? Great! Remember, step one is to find the hour. Here the last number the hour hand (or the short hand) passed was four, so the hour is four. Next, find the minute by counting in steps of five and counting up. What minute did you get? Lastly, put the hour and time together. What time did you get? Did you get 4:43? "Oh no! The green snail got caught in the tricky spider web; that obstacle is always difficult." "Look! it's the blue snail pulling ahead!" "Is the blue snail going to win this now? She's my favorite!" "Yeah, she's the best!" Now it's YOUR turn to help Zuri and Freddie figure out what time it is. What time do you see?
The hour hand has just passed SIX, so the hour is six. If you count forward in fives then count up, you should get the number twelve. So, the minute is twelve. The time is 6:12. Remember, when you're telling time to the exact minute, you can use the HOUR hand, MINUTE hand, and COUNTING IN FIVES to help figure out the exact time. First, find the hour by looking at what number the HOUR hand (or short hand) LAST passed. Next, find the minute by counting in steps of five and counting up. Finally, put the hour and minute together to find the exact time. "AND WE HAVE A WINNER!" "At last after five hours of racing we can FINALLY anounce that the winner is..."
Oh great, now NO ONE will know the winner!
Time to the Minute exercise
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What time is it?
HintsRemember the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed tells you the hour.
Find the minutes by counting forwards in 5's around the clocks, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand).
Solution- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 4.
- After counting forwards in 5's and then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 43 minutes.
- So, the time is 4:43.
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Find the clocks that match.
HintsFind the minutes by counting around the clock in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand).
Remember the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed tells you the hour.
Solution- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 2.
So, the time is 2:37. _____________________________________________________________________________________ For the other clocks:- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 3.
So, the time is 3:18.- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 9.
So, the time is 9:22.- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 7.
So, the time is 7:53. -
Match the times to the clocks.
HintsRemember the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed tells you the hour.
Find the minutes by counting forwards around the clock in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand).
SolutionThe first clock:
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 10.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 48 minutes.
- So, the time is 10:48.
The second clock:- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 5.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 12 minutes.
- So, the time is 5:12.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 2.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 32 minutes.
- So, the time is 2:32.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 12.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 38 minutes.
- So, the time is 12:38.
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What time is it?
HintsPut a : between the hour and minute.
Example: 2:30If the minutes are less than 10, make sure to put a 0 in the tens place.
Example: 2:04Remember the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed tells you the hour.
Find the minutes by counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand).
SolutionThe first clock:
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 1.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 48 minutes.
- So, the time is 1:48.
The second clock:- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 11.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 7 minutes.
- So, the time is 11:07.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 6.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 28 minutes.
- So, the time is 6:28.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 8.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 33 minutes.
- So, the time is 8:33.
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Sort the steps for how to read a clock.
HintsThink back to what step comes before you find how many minutes have passed.
Before you start counting in 5's around the clock and counting up the minutes, what must you find?
Solution- First, find the hour by looking at the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed.
- Now we need to find how many minutes of the hour have passed by looking at the minute hand (or long hand).
- We can count forwards in steps of 5 around the clock, then count up to find how many minutes have passed.
- Put the hour and minute together to find the exact time.
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Which times are wrong?
HintsRemember the last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed tells you the hour.
Find the minutes by counting forwards in steps of 5, then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand).
SolutionThe last time is 2:52, not 10:14.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 2.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5 then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 52 minutes.
- So, the time is 2:52.
The first time is 9:22, not 4:42.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 9.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5 then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 22 minutes.
- So, the time is 9:22.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 4.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5 then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 3 minutes.
- So, the time is 4:03.
- The last number the hour hand (or short hand) passed was 11.
- After counting forwards in steps of 5 then counting up to the minute hand (or long hand), you stop at 23 minutes.
- So, the time is 11:23.
