Author:
Melody Casey
Subject:
Mathematics
Material Type:
Lesson Plan
Level:
Lower Primary, Upper Primary
Grade:
2, 3
Tags:
  • GEDB
  • Global Education
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English

    Education Standards

    GEDB Understanding Time Zones: Elapsed Time Across the Globe (Lesson 2 of 3)

    GEDB Understanding Time Zones:  Elapsed Time Across the Globe (Lesson 2 of 3)

    Overview

    In this lesson, students will use the times that they recorded in the previous lesson "What Time Is It?" to find the time difference between two cities. Students may use strategies to find elapsed time such as subtraction, a number line, or an analog clock to help them find the time difference. This lesson is designed for use in the AIG (academically and intellectually gifted) classroom; students are pulled out of their regular classroom twice a week for enrichment instruction in their area of giftedness. This lesson was developed by Meredith Ewbank as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

    Lesson Plan

    Description

    In this lesson, students will use the times that they recorded in the previous lesson "What Time Is It?" to find the time difference between two cities. Students may use strategies to find elapsed time such as subtraction, a number line, or an analog clock to help them find the time difference. This lesson is designed for use in the AIG (academically and intellectually gifted) classroom; students are pulled out of their regular classroom twice a week for enrichment instruction in their area of giftedness.

     

    Content

    Student Engagement/Motivation

    In the previous lesson, students recorded times in various cities around the world. The teacher should create a chart that lists the names of these cities in the first column, the time recorded last class in the second column, and include two more blank columns for recording times at the beginning of this lesson and the following lesson. (See example attached below.)

    As students come into class, have them record times on this chart using the clocks hung on the wall with the map posters and by using http://time.is  to locate the current time in the cities.

     

    Learning Targets and Criteria for Success

    Learning Target:

    I can find the time difference between two cities by finding the elapsed time.

    Criteria for Success:

    I will identify the time in two different cities (home and another city around the world).

    I will find the elapsed time by using a number line, clock, chart/table, subtraction problem, or other strategy.

    I will write a sentence to tell the time difference and whether the other city is ahead of or behind my city's time.

     

    Supplies/Resources

    Classroom display:

    posters of maps of all continents with cities

    analog clocks displaying the time of one city from each continent (hung with the appropriate continent poster and labeled with the name of the city, country)

    student work from previous lesson displayed to show the times in different cities

    Materials:

    poster, chart paper, or whiteboard with chart of times found in the previous lesson

    computer with internet access

    projector (optional but allows easy display for the group)

    "Elapsed Time Across the Globe" handout (1 per student)

    https://time.is/ 

    www.brainpop.com/science/space/timezones/ (optional, subscription required)

     

    Learning Tasks and Practice

    Refer students to the chart of times recorded as they came into class. Ask students what they notice about the times today compared to last class. They should notice that the hours are the same and the minutes are close to the same as last time; again, they should also notice that the minutes are the same in (almost) all cities (with only a few exceptions in Asia).

    This introduction to finding the elapsed time should be conducted together, with the teacher guiding the students through figuring out how to solve the problem of finding the time difference between two places. The teacher should record student thinking on the whiteboard, SMARTboard, or chart paper. Using the times recorded on the chart at the start of class, choose a city and work collaboratively as a whole group/class to find the time difference between home and that city. For example, if it is 11:00am at home in Graham, North Carolina and 8:00am in Los Angeles, California, the teacher should ask: 

    What are students doing in LA right now? (just starting school, maybe eating breakfast)

    Is their time behind ours or ahead of ours? (behind; they're just starting school but it's almost lunch time for us)

    How many hours behind us are they? (3 hours) How do you know? (Students may count backwards, use a strategy from classroom instruction, subtract; the teacher should record various methods for finding this time difference on the whiteboard, SMARTboard, or chart paper) This is the time difference between the two cities; the time difference is 3 hours.

    How would we say/write a sentence to compare the times in the two cities using the time difference? (Los Angeles, California is 3 hours behind Graham, NC.)

    Pass out the "Elapsed Time Across the Globe" handout to students. The students should choose three cities to find the time difference between home and that city. The teachers should encourage students to choose different cities from the list so that all cities are chosen. Students will copy the city names and times from the chart used to record times at the beginning of class and use the space provided to show how they find the time difference. They will then complete the sentence with the city names and time difference and circle whether the other city is ahead of or behind their home city. 

    Students should find one or two time differences by working with a partner before working independently on the last one or two time differences.

    The handout can be cut apart to display the time differences on the maps displayed on the wall. Students should hang their time difference work with the analog clock at the appropriate city. (The teacher may choose to have students copy their work onto an index card or other piece of paper to keep the handout intact for grading.)

     

    Technological Engagement

    Computer with internet access

    Projector (optional but recommended)

    https://time.is/ 

    www.brainpop.com/science/space/timezones/ (optional, subscription required)

     

    Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Learning

    Formative assessment: As students are working collaboratively (both as a whole group and with partners), the teacher should be monitoring and taking mental notes of student successes and difficulties. The teacher should respond using the feedback questions below to help guide students towards correcting their own mistakes.

    Summative assessment (for this lesson): Students' work finding the last one or two time differences serves as summative assessment for this lesson. The teacher may choose to collect this for formal assessment (grading).

     

    Student Self-Reflection and Action Steps

    Students have opportunity to work with a partner to find the time difference; through this discussion, students will be able to reflect on their work and determine whether or not they need to make changes to their work.

     

    Feedback/Instructional Adjustments

    The teacher should monitor students' ability to find the elapsed time between two cities and provide feedback through questioning; these questions are designed to help students reflect on their own work. If students are unable to modify their work based on teacher questioning, the teacher may need to be more explicit and reteach how to find elapsed time and/or reteach the properties of time, particularly as it relates to the change from AM to PM.

    What is the time in _____________ (city)?

    Is it AM or PM?

    Based on that time, what would students be doing in ________________(city)?

    Is that before/behind us or after/ahead of us?

    How do you count time from 11:00am to 2:00pm?

    Can you count the hours from our time to _________________'s (city's) time? (hold up fingers to count the number of hours they count)

     

    Extended Learning Opportunities 

    This lesson can be extended to include a discussion of the scientific reasons that time is different in different cities. This may include a visual/model using the globe and the "sun" (a flashlight) that illuminates half of the Earth. Teachers may also use the "Time Zones" video from Brain Pop (subscription required) [ [www.brainpop.com/science/space/timezones/] to pique students' curiosity about other aspects of time zones, such as the connection between 24 time zones and 24 hours in a day or lines of longitude.

    This lesson can also be extended by find cities in Asia whose time has different minutes from your time at home. Students can find the time difference between home and one of these cities, which requires finding more than just the number of hours different.

     

    Teacher Reflection of Learning

    Students who are comfortable with time find this idea of finding the time difference very easy, almost second nature. They generally have a good sense of time and time management skills and are able to think about time flexibly. Students who generally seem unaware of the time and who may have difficulty managing their time often have a harder time understanding and finding the time difference between two cities. If students are primarily using subtraction as a strategy for finding the elapsed time, they may have difficulty when the time crosses noon or midnight. Some students may be familiar with military time and want to use that to help them subtract. I encourage this and discuss with the group what military time is and when/why it is used.

    Students are excited to think about students in another city and what they might be doing. Many students react by wanting to move to another city so that they can be out of school already or so that it can be time for sleep. This can lead into a fun discussion about still having to go to school, just at a different time.