Topics
9. Time
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Australia
Year 3

9.01 Half hours and quarter hours

Lesson
Practice
Lesson

Are you ready?

Can you tell the time from a clock?

Examples

Example 1

What times are shown on the clocks below

3 clocks with the minute hands pointing at 12 while the hour hands are pointing at 4, 9, and 1 respectively.
Worked Solution
Create a strategy

For each clock, look at where the hour hand and the minute hand is pointing.

Apply the idea

In all the clocks the minute hands are pointing to 12. So we can use the hour hand to tell the time.

In the first clock, the hour hand is pointing to 4, so it is 4 o'clock.

In the middle clock, the hour hand is pointing to 9, so it is 9 o'clock.

In the last clock, the hour hand is pointing to 1, so it is 1 o'clock.

Idea summary

To tell the time from a clock we look at where the hour hand and the minute hand is pointing.

Half past

Let's look at times that we call "half past." We will see how half past is half the way around the clock face, which is 30 minutes.

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Examples

Example 2

Which clock shows half past six?

A
A clock where the minute hand is at 6 and the hour hand is between 6 and 7
B
A clock where the minute hand is at 6 and the hour hand is between 7 and 8
Worked Solution
Create a strategy

Choose the clock that has the hour hand half way between the given number and the next number.

Apply the idea

Both clocks have the minute hand pointing at 6, so both clocks are showing half past.

Option A has the hour hand half way between 6 and 7, so it is showing half past six.

The answer is option A.

Idea summary

To show half past an hour on a clock, the minute hand should point at 6 and the hour hand should point between the given hour and the next hour.

Quarter past and quarter to

Let's split the clock into quarters and look at how to use "quarter past" and "quarter to" to describe these times.

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Examples

Example 3

What time is shown on the clock?

A clock where the hour hand points at just past 5 and long hand points at 3.
Worked Solution
Create a strategy

For the hours, enter the number that the hour hand has just passed. For the minutes, multiply what the long hand is pointing at by 5.

Apply the idea

The hour hand has just passed 5.

The long hand is pointing at 3, so, 3\times5=15.

The time shown is 5\text:15, or quarter past 5.

Idea summary

We can describe the position of the minute hand using these phrases:

  • quarter past - when the minute hand is pointing to 3

  • quarter to - when the minute hand is pointing to 9

This image shows a clock with labels. Ask your teacher for more information.

Outcomes

AC9M3M03

recognise and use the relationship between formal units of time including days, hours, minutes and seconds to estimate and compare the duration of events

AC9M3M04

describe the relationship between the hours and minutes on analog and digital clocks, and read the time to the nearest minute

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