Read About Measuring Elapsed Time

Basketball Time Elapsed time can help you find how many hours you spend at a basketball game. Let’s say you arrive at the game at 2:00 p.m. You leave the game at 3:30 p.m. We can use a number line to help find the difference between the two times. We can start at 2:00 p.m. and jump one hour to 3:00 p.m. Then, we can jump another half hour to reach 3:30 p.m. Try this one yourself: You arrive at a volleyball game at 9:30 a.m. You leave the game at 11:00 a.m. How long were you at the volleyball game?

Travel Time A number line can help you find the length of time you travel. Let’s say your plane takes off at 9:30 a.m. and lands at 3:15 p.m. We can draw a number line with 9:30 a.m. marked as a starting point and 3:15 p.m. marked as an ending point. We can jump from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in 5 one-hour jumps. Then we jump 30 more minutes from 2:30 to the next hour, 3:00. From 3:00, jump another 15 minutes to 3:15. You travel for 5 hours and 30 + 15 = 45 minutes. Try this one yourself: Your bus leaves your city at 1:50 p.m. It arrives in your aunt’s town at 5:20 p.m. How long is the bus ride from your city to your aunt’s town?

Ready for School When you know how long it takes you to get ready for school, and what time your bus comes, you can use elapsed time to help you figure out when you need to get out of bed. Let’s say it takes you 10 minutes to shower, 15 minutes to get dressed, and 13 minutes to eat breakfast. That’s a total of 10 + 15 + 13 = 38 minutes. Your bus comes at 6:55 a.m. We can use a number line and jump back 38 minutes from the time your bus comes. From 6:55, jump back 30 minutes to 6:25. Then, jump back 5 more minutes to 6:20. We still need to jump back 3 more minutes, to 6:17. You need to get out of bed at 6:17 a.m. Try this one yourself: School starts at 7:22 a.m. It takes you 16 minutes to walk to school, 25 minutes to get ready for school, and 9 minutes to eat breakfast. What time do you need to wake up?

The Movies Elapsed time can also be used to find when a movie will be over. Let’s say a movie starts at 6:50 p.m. The movie is 1 hour and 55 minutes long. We can find what time the movie ends using a number line. Label the start time at 6:50. Jump forward 1 hour to 7:50. Then jump 10 minutes to the next hour, 8:00, which leaves 55 – 10 = 45 minutes. The movie ends at 8:45 p.m. Try this one yourself: A movie starts at 4:15 p.m. and it lasts 2 hours and 10 minutes. What time will the movie be over?