Durations of Time

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Content Durations of Time

What is duration of time?
Calculating duration of time
How to write duration of time
How to find the duration of time
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Basics on the topic Durations of Time

Zuri and Freddie are participating in a treasure hunt to win tickets to a big film premiere! They have a series of clues to find to try and work out where the tickets will be. They also need to calculate the duration of time it takes them to find each one. Will they be able to go to the premiere?

What is duration of time?

A duration of time is how long an activity takes from beginning to end. In this video we explore how to calculate duration of time using a chart.

Calculating duration of time

Freddie and Zuri’s treasure hunt began at 2:15 and they found their first clue at 3:06. They need to find the duration of time it took them to find it. We start by drawing our chart and writing the start time, 2:15, on the left. We then write the end time, 3:06, on the right. We can then record smaller intervals of time on the chart until we reach the end time.

How to write duration of time

When we are deciding which intervals of time to add to our chart, it is a good idea to find intervals that end on the full or half hour as it makes choosing the next interval easier. Freddie and Zuri started at 2:15 so if we add an interval of 15 minutes we get to 2:30. We write 2:30 on the left side and 15 min on the right. We can then add half an hour or 30 minutes to get to 3:00 and finally 6 more minutes to get to the end time of 3:06.

How to find the duration of time

We now have 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 6 minutes. To find the duration of time it took Freddie and Zuri to find the first clue, we need to add these intervals up. 15 plus 30 plus 6 equals 51 minutes. It took Freddie and Zuri 51 minutes to find the first clue. Freddie and Zuri carry on looking for clues but will they find the tickets in the end?

Remember

When working out time durations: * First, draw your chart labelling the start time and the end time. * Record time intervals on the chart until the end time is reached. * Add the durations of time in the right column to find the total time taken.

Keep practising with our durations of time activities, durations of time word problems and durations of time worksheets.

Transcript Durations of Time

Zuri and Freddie are participating in a treasure hunt to win tickets to the big film premiere. They need to find three clues, AND calculate how long it takes to find each one.

Let's calculate the "duration of time" it took them to find the first clue. "A duration of time is how much time has passed or gone by from one point to another". Some intervals we can use to calculate durations of time are one minute, five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, and more! One tool we can use to calculate durations of time is a chart, like THIS. The first step is to label the START time and the END time. The treasure hunt began at two-fifteen, so write the start time HERE. They found the clue at three o'six, so write the end time HERE. The second step is to record time intervals on the chart until the END time is reached. There are many intervals we can choose to add, but if we choose intervals that end on the half or full hour, it makes choosing the next interval easier. Let's add fifteen minutes first, abbreviating minutes with 'min'. Two-fifteen plus fifteen minutes is two-thirty, so record that HERE. Add thirty minutes next, recording it HERE. Thirty minutes after two-thirty is three o'clock, which goes HERE. Last, we add six minutes to three to reach three o'six. Now that the END time is reached, we can move to the third step, which is to ADD the durations of time in the RIGHT column.

Fifteen PLUS thirty PLUS six is fifty-one. It took fifty-one minutes to find the first clue. Freddie and Zuri are looking for the second clue in the ice cream shop. Oh! They found it! Let's calculate the duration of time it took them to find the second clue. The first step is to label the START time and the END time. They began searching at three-ten and found the clue at three forty-eight. The second step is to record time intervals on the chart until the END time is reached. Remember, we want to try to reach the half or full hour to make adding the intervals easier. Begin with twenty minutes. What time is twenty minutes after three-ten? Three-thirty. So write the new time HERE. Look at the END TIME, what would you add now? Ten minutes to get to three- forty, how much time should we add next? Eight minutes, to reach our END TIME of three forty-eight. What is the third step? Add the durations of time in the RIGHT column. How much time did it take to find the second clue? Twenty PLUS ten PLUS eight is thirty-eight. It took thirty-eight minutes. Zuri and Freddie are looking for the last clue. It is taking them rather a long time to find this clue! Woooohooo! There it is! It looks like tickets to the film premiere! Before they go, let's calculate the time it took them to find the last clue. What is our first step? First, label the START time and the END time. They began searching at four o'five and found the clue at five sixteen. What is the second step? The second step is to record time intervals on the chart until the END time is reached. This time, try adding on your own. You could have added one hour FIRST using the abbreviation to get to five o'five. Next, add ten minutes to get to five fifteen, and then one minute to get to five sixteen. What is the third step? Add the durations of time in the RIGHT column. How long did it take to find the last clue? One hour and eleven minutes. Remember, "a duration of time is how much time has passed or gone by from one point to another". We can use a chart to help us calculate durations of time. First, label the START time and the END time. The second step is to record time intervals on the chart until the END time is reached. Finally, add the durations of time in the RIGHT column. Let's see if Zuri and Freddie made it to the film premiere!

Durations of Time exercise

Would you like to apply the knowledge you’ve learnt? You can review and practice it with the tasks for the video Durations of Time.

How long was the film?

Hints

To find out the duration of the film, add up all of the times on the right side of the chart.

How many hours and how many minutes altogether?

Solution

The duration of the film was 1 hour and 45 minutes.
If we add 10 + 30 + 5 we get 45.
1 hour plus 45 minutes is 1 hour 45 minutes.
How long did it take Freddie and Zuri to get home?
Hints

Calculate how many hours or minutes have passed between each set of times on the left side of the chart.

Put the total duration of time at the bottom by adding the durations on the right side of the chart.

Solution
The duration of the bus journey was 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- 8:25 - 9:25 is 1 hour
- 9:25 - 9:30 is 5 minutes
- 9:30 - 9:40 is 10 minutes
- 5 minutes + 10 minutes = 15 minutes
- 1 hour + 15 minutes = 1 hour 15 minutes
Which film do Freddie and Zuri have time to watch?
Hints

Are any of them over 2 hours? Remember, Freddie and Zuri only have 1 hour and 50 minutes.

You could draw your own chart like this and add small intervals of time to work out which film they could watch.

Solution
Freddie and Zuri have time to watch Breezy Beachball!
It starts at 1:55 and ends at 3:45, therefore the duration is 1 hour 50 minutes.
- If we add 1 hour onto 1:55 we get to 2:55.
- We could then add on 5 minutes to get to 3:00.
- Next, we could add on 45 minutes to get to 3:45.
- If we add 45 + 5 we get 50.
- 1 hour + 50 minutes = 1 hour 50 minutes.
How long did each activity take?
Hints

Start by adding hours if you can, like in this example.

Remember, add minutes to the hour or half hour to help work out what to add next, like in this example.

Solution
Freddie and Zuri spent:
- 1 hour 45 minutes cleaning.
- 55 minutes shopping.
- 50 minutes gardening.
- 1 hour 20 minutes cooking.
_____________________________________________________
Cleaning
- Starting at 9:20, we add on 1 hour to get to 10:20.
- We can then add on 10 minutes to get to 10:30.
- Then add on 30 minutes to get to 11:00.
- Finally, 5 minutes to get to 11:05.
- Add 10 + 30 + 5 to get 45 minutes.
- 1 hour + 45 minutes = 1 hour 45 minutes.
Shopping
- First, add 5 minutes to get to 11:30.
- Then add on 30 minutes to get to 12:00.
- Finally, add on 20 minutes to get to 12:20.
- 5 + 30 + 20 = 55 minutes.
Gardening
- First, add on 25 minutes to get to 5:00.
- Then add on another 25 minutes to get to 5:25.
- 25 + 25 = 50 minutes.
Cooking
- Start by adding 1 hour to get to 7:05.
- We could then add on 20 minutes to get to 7:25.
- 1 hour + 20 minutes = 1 hour 20 minutes.
How long was the TV programme?

Hints

Add the intervals of time on the right side of the chart to find the total duration.

Is the duration of the TV programme more than or less than an hour?

Solution

The duration of the TV programme was 35 minutes.
If we add 20 and 15 we get 35, therefore the duration of the programme was 35 minutes.
Are the durations correct?
Hints

Have a go at drawing your own chart to help you work out the duration.

Add minutes to reach the hour, half hour, or quarter hour to help find the total duration.

Solution
Here are the errors that should have been highlighted.
9:17 - 10:43
- Here the minutes were incorrect. This should have been 1 hour and 26 minutes.
- If we add 1 hour to 9:17 we get to 10:17.
- We can then add 3 minutes to get to 10:20.
- Then 10 minutes to get to 10:30.
- Then 10 minutes to get to 10:40.
- And 3 minutes to get to 10:43.
- 3 + 10 + 10 + 3 = 26. 1 hour + 26 minutes = 1 hour and 26 minutes.
9:26 - 10:52
- This one is correct.
- If we add 1 hour to 9:26 we get to 10:26.
- We can then add 4 minutes to get to 10:30.
- Then 20 minutes to get to 10:50.
- And 2 minutes to get to 10:52.
- 4 + 20 + 2 = 26. 1 hour + 26 minutes = 1 hour and 26 minutes.
9:51 - 11:04
- Here the hours were incorrect. This should have been 1 hour and 13 minutes.
- If we add 1 hour to 9:51 we get to 10:51.
- We can then add 9 minutes to get to 11:00.
- And 4 minutes to get to 11:04.
- 9 + 4 = 13. 1 hour + 13 minutes = 1 hour and 13 minutes.
10:13 - 11:27
- Here the hour and minutes were both incorrect. This should have been 1 hour and 14 minutes.
- If we add 1 hour to 10:13 we get to 11:13.
- We can then add 2 minutes to get to 11:15.
- Then 10 minutes to get to 11:25.
- And 2 minutes to get to 11:27.
- 2 + 10 + 2 = 14. 1 hour + 14 minutes = 1 hour and 14 minutes.