Train Journey Time

Overview

Students use analogue clocks and a timeline to determine how long a train journey lasted. The lesson builds on reading time in hours and applying duration to a familiar real-life context, using Maths — No Problem! Textbook 4B, pages 88–89, and Workbook 4B, pages 61–62 only.

Learning intentions

• WALT measure time in hours.
• We are learning to identify the start and finish times of an event.
• We are learning to work out duration by counting forwards in hours.
• We are learning to explain how we know our answer is correct.

Success criteria

• I can read the start and finish times on a clock.
• I can count forwards in whole hours to find how long the train journey took.
• I can record my answer with the correct time unit.
• I can explain my strategy using a clock, counting, or a timeline.

Curriculum links

• Measurement — use familiar events as benchmarks to estimate and measure duration using appropriate time-based units.
• Mathsteasers — develop higher-order thinking through challenging questions and reasoning.
• Mathematics and Statistics — connect mathematical ideas with textbook content while explaining strategies and checking solutions.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Recall and connect. Teacher reminds students that an hour is a measure of duration and asks: “What does the hour hand show? How many hours are there from 2 o’clock to 5 o’clock?” Students discuss with a partner, then share how they counted the hours.

2. 4–9 min · Explore the textbook context. Teacher directs students to Textbook 4B, page 88, reads the train journey question aloud, and gives thinking time before discussing the start and finish times. Students identify when the train left and arrived, then make an estimate of the journey length before calculating.

3. 9–15 min · Model a strategy. Teacher uses the clocks and timeline shown in the textbook to model counting forwards one hour at a time from the departure time to the arrival time. Emphasise that the number of jumps, not the clock numbers themselves, shows the duration; record the answer in hours. Students follow the example in their books and explain the counting steps to a partner.

4. 15–23 min · Guided workbook practice. Teacher directs students to Workbook 4B, pages 61–62, and completes the first question with the class, checking that students locate the start and finish times before calculating. Students complete the remaining questions independently, using a timeline or drawings if helpful; the teacher circulates, checks understanding, and provides prompts rather than answers.

5. 23–27 min · Pair check and discuss. Teacher pauses the class and selects one workbook question for comparison, asking students to compare both their answer and their method with a partner. Students explain whether they counted forwards, used a timeline, or used another valid strategy, and correct their work in pencil if needed.

6. 27–30 min · Plenary and assessment. Teacher asks: “How can we find the duration when we know the start and finish times?” and revisits the learning intention. Students complete the final available workbook question or write beside one answer: “The journey took ___ hours because ___.” Invite two students to share different representations.

Resources

• Maths — No Problem! Textbook 4B, pages 88–89
• Maths — No Problem! Workbook 4B, pages 61–62
• Pencils and erasers
• Classroom clock or teacher demonstration clock, if already available
• Whiteboard and marker for modelling a timeline

Assessment

• During the opening discussion, listen for whether students understand that duration describes how long something takes and can count whole hours.
• While students work, check that they identify the departure and arrival times before calculating, count the intervals accurately, and label answers in hours.
• Use the plenary explanation to assess whether students can justify an answer rather than only state it. Note students who confuse clock readings with elapsed time for follow-up support.

Differentiation

• Support students by sitting them near the teacher during modelling and prompting them to draw a timeline with the start time, one-hour jumps, and finish time.
• Allow students who need additional processing time to complete fewer workbook questions accurately, while the teacher checks each step before they continue.
• Provide oral rehearsal with a partner using the sentence frame: “The train started at ____. I counted forwards ____ hours to ____, so the journey took ____ hours.”
• Extend confident students through the reasoning prompts in the textbook and by asking them to find or explain a second method, while keeping all work within the assigned book pages.