Time Around Us

Overview

Students explore how time units relate, using familiar routines, seasons and local events in Hamilton and Aotearoa New Zealand. They build from everyday sequencing to comparing durations and explaining why some time units are longer or variable.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify and use years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
• WALT know that a day has 24 hours and a year has about 52 weeks.
• WALT explain that a month is approximately four weeks, but months have different numbers of days.
• WALT describe which time unit is appropriate for different durations.

Year 2 focus: Students identify and sequence common time units, use 24 hours in a day, and compare familiar durations.

Year 3 focus: Students explain relationships between weeks, months and years, recognise variation in month lengths, and justify the most suitable unit for a duration.

Success criteria

• I can put time units in order from shortest to longest.
• I can explain that 24 hours make one day and about 52 weeks make one year.
• I can describe why months are not all the same length.
• I can choose a sensible time unit and explain my choice.

Curriculum links

• Mathematics and Statistics — Measurement, Duration: identifying and describing durations using years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds.
• Measurement, Duration: knowing there are 24 hours in a day and 52 weeks in a year.
• Measurement, Duration: understanding that months are approximately four weeks but vary in the number of days.
• Mathsteasers: using reasoning and discussion to deepen mathematical understanding.

Vocabulary

year, season, month, week, day, hour, minute, second, duration, longer, shorter, approximately/about, calendar, interval

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Local hook. Open with the Hamilton time hook and visual calendar. Show a photograph or illustration of Hamilton Gardens in summer and ask: “How long might it take for summer to come back?” Students turn and talk, then share possible units such as months, weeks or a year. Record ideas without correcting immediately.

2. 7–17 min · Build the time ladder. Use the slides to reveal a visual ladder: second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year. Model that units are not all exact multiples: 60 seconds make a minute, 60 minutes make an hour, 24 hours make a day, and 7 days make a week. Students use actions to represent each unit and help place word cards on the board. Prompt: “Would we measure brushing teeth in hours? Why not?”

3. 17–32 min · Flexible-group investigation. Place students in mixed-ability groups of three or four. Give each group a calendar page, linking cubes or counters, and a set of teacher-prepared duration cards. Students sort cards under seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years, then justify two choices. Include local examples: a school day, the Waikato A&P Show, Matariki returning each year, a trip to Hamilton Zoo, a football match, and the time between sunrise and sunset. Year 2 students focus on matching familiar events to units; Year 3 students explain and compare the choices.

4. 32–43 min · Calendar reasoning. Display a 12-month calendar in the month-length investigation slides. Students use counters to show that four weeks is 28 days, then notice that months may have 28, 29, 30 or 31 days. Explain that “approximately” means about, not exactly. Establish that a year has about 52 weeks. Ask: “Why can we not say every month has exactly four weeks?” and “Which is longer: three weeks or one month? How do you know?” Students complete the relevant sections of the time-unit sorting and calendar reasoning sheet independently or with a partner.

5. 43–53 min · Human timeline and discussion. Give each group one duration statement from the slides, such as “The school holidays last two weeks”, “A lesson lasts one hour”, or “A blink lasts seconds”. Students stand in order from shortest to longest and defend their position. Invite Year 3 students to create a new statement involving months or years. Address misconceptions, especially that a month always equals four weeks and that 24 hours means 24 o’clock hours.

6. 53–60 min · Exit ticket and reflection. Students complete the final three questions on the exit questions: “How many hours are in a day?”, “About how many weeks are in a year?”, and “Choose a suitable unit for the time between two birthdays and explain why.” Students show a green, amber or red response using the traffic-light check-in cards as they leave.

Resources

• the time hook, visual time ladder, calendar investigation, sorting instructions and plenary prompts
• the time-unit sorting and calendar reasoning sheet
• Large 12-month calendar
• Teacher-prepared duration/event cards
• Linking cubes or counters
• Blu-tack, board and marker pens
• Pencils and crayons
• Optional analogue clocks and visual timer

Assessment

• Listen for correct vocabulary and reasoning during the group sort; ask, “What makes that unit a sensible choice?”
• Check whether students use 24 hours, 52 weeks and approximately four weeks accurately during calendar reasoning.
• Use the exit ticket to identify students needing further work with unit relationships, month variation or selecting suitable units.

Differentiation

• Support: provide a picture-supported time ladder, read cards aloud, use colour coding, rehearse vocabulary orally, and pair students with a supportive peer. Offer the sentence stems “I chose ___ because…” and “___ is longer than ___.”
• Dyslexia-friendly options: use a clear sans-serif font, large print, short lines, uncluttered pages, strong contrast and icons beside key words. Allow students to answer orally, point, draw or use counters instead of writing full explanations.
• Year 2: use fewer cards, concentrate on seconds through weeks, and work with familiar events and a completed calendar model.
• Year 3: include all time units, require written justifications, and ask students to compare one month with four weeks and explain exceptions.
• Diverse learners: pre-teach vocabulary with gestures and real objects, provide quiet working space and movement choices, and accept home-language discussion before sharing in English.

Extension

• Challenge students to find two months whose lengths differ and explain the effect on the number of weeks and days.
• Ask: “Is 52 weeks exactly the same as one year?” Students investigate the extra days and explain why we say about 52 weeks.
• Students design a Hamilton or Aotearoa event timeline using at least five different time units.