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Year 3 Maths | Learn, see, try

Read the hands, then count the minutes

A clock uses two scales at once. The short hand shows hours and the long hand shows minutes. Reading the long hand as an hour number is an easy mix-up, especially when both hands point near a printed number.

What to notice

Find the long minute hand first. Each large step between clock numbers is five minutes. The short hour hand moves gradually towards the next hour; it does not stay still until the minute hand reaches twelve.

What to do

Count in fives from twelve to the minute hand. Then name the hour that the short hand has passed. Combine the hour and minutes, for example two twenty or 2:20.

Why it works

Sixty minutes make one complete turn of the minute hand. The twelve numbered spaces each represent five minutes because 12 × 5 = 60. Half a turn is thirty minutes.

Work through an example

What time is shown on this clock?

123456789101112
The minute hand points to 4; the hour hand is between 2 and 3.
  1. The long hand points to 4: four groups of five minutes make twenty.
  2. The short hand has passed 2 but has not reached 3. The hour is two.
  3. The time is 2:20, or twenty minutes past two.

A common mistake

2:04 would mean four minutes past two. A minute hand at the printed 4 means twenty minutes, not four minutes.

A strategy to try

For elapsed time, make small jumps. From 2:20 to 2:45, jump twenty minutes to 2:40 and five more to 2:45. The duration is twenty-five minutes, even though the finish time contains 45.

Try it now

Try three questions

No account is needed. These examples do not change saved learning progress. Choose an answer and check it for an explanation; you can try again.

1. The minute hand points to 6 and the hour hand is halfway between 3 and 4. What time is it?

2. A game starts at 4:10 and ends at 4:35. How long does it last?

3. How many minutes are in 2 hours?

For parents and carers

Connect clock reading to a short everyday activity. Ask what time an activity starts and ends, then count the interval. A paper clock with movable hands is useful because children can see both hands move together.

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