Comparing Time Durations

PROCEDURAL

Mathematics›Measurement|Ages 7—8|ID: mt_4emC463IyW

Compare durations of events and calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks

Mastery Evidence

Calculate how long an activity lasted given start and end times
Compare the duration of two events and identify which was longer
Solve a problem such as 'The lesson starts at 10:15 and ends at 11:00. How long is it?'

Assessment Prompt

“If [child] starts cooking at 4:15 p.m. and finishes at 5:00 p.m., can they work out how long the cooking took?”

Curriculum Standards1 alignment

Ma/KS2/Y3/M/7The national curriculum in England

Compare durations

compare durations of events [for example to calculate the time taken by particular events or tasks]

Mathematics · Key Stage 2

Prerequisites2

Estimating answers (age 7+)
hardAges 7—8
Time Units and Calendar Facts
softAges 7—8

Show full prerequisite tree

Estimating answers (age 7+) hard
Calculating event durations requires reading time to the minute
- Telling time to the minute (age 7+) hard
  Reading to nearest minute extends reading to five minutes
  - Telling Time: Minutes hard
    Extends telling time to include a.m./p.m. and 24-hour notation
    - Telling Time: Hours and Half Hours hard
      Telling time to 5 minutes extends from telling time to the hour and half past
      - Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
        Reading a clock requires recognising numerals 1–12
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        Writing digits 0-9 hard
        Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
        
        Sitting and holding a pencil soft
        Same motor skills for digit formation
      - What Is a Half? soft
        Understanding 'half past' benefits from the concept of halves
        
        Division as equal sharing hard
        Finding a half requires equal sharing into 2 groups — a division concept
        
        Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
        Division as equal sharing/grouping requires understanding subtraction as taking away/separating
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
      - Telling time to the minute hard
        Telling time on a clock requires understanding hours and minutes as time units
        
        Comparing durations hard
        Measuring time in units requires understanding time comparison language first
    - Counting in 2s soft
      Reading 5-minute intervals benefits from skip counting in 5s
      - Rote counting to 100 hard
        Skip counting in 2s, 5s, 10s requires fluent rote counting by ones first
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        One-to-one correspondence requires knowing the number name sequence
- Sequence intervals of time hard
  Extends comparing time intervals to recording in seconds, minutes, hours
  - Telling time to the minute hard
    Sequencing intervals requires understanding time measurement
    - Comparing durations hard
      Measuring time in units requires understanding time comparison language first
  - Comparing durations hard
    Comparing and sequencing intervals extends Y1 comparative time language
Time Units and Calendar Facts soft
Knowing time unit relationships supports duration calculations
- Number of minutes in an hour hard
  Extends knowing minutes in an hour to seconds in a minute and days in months
  - Telling time to the minute hard
    Knowing 60 min = 1 hour and 24 hours = 1 day extends from measuring time in hours/minutes/seconds
    - Comparing durations hard
      Measuring time in units requires understanding time comparison language first

Unlocks1

Numbers on a number line
hardAges 8—9