Reading the hour on a clock: 1.25
Supporting Materials
Indicator of Progress
At this level students can read both digital and analogue clocks to find out information about the hour.
Prior to this, students associate some clock times with common events (e.g. 11 o’clock is when morning play ends, we go home at half past three) without having precise meanings. In other words, they use time names as labels.
At this stage students are beginning to learn to measure time, as shown in the diagram below. After this they will learn to measure time with more accuracy (to minutes etc) and later learn to calculate with time. See Measurement Phases.
Three phases of teaching measurement
Illustration 1: Draw a clock
Having students draw a clock is an excellent diagnostic task. Prior to this level, students know that there are numbers on a clock face, but the task of putting numbers on a clock face will reveal that they may not know precisely which should be present or how they are organised. For example, they might write numerals other than 1 – 12 (as in the first two pictures below) or that they are not aware of the spatial distribution around the face (as shown in the last two pictures below).
When students have achieved success at this indicator, they will place only the numbers 1 – 12 on the clock face, with the 12 at the top, the 6 at or near the bottom and the others reasonably evenly spread and in correct direction.
Clock face A: Numbers 1 to 10 in correct direction and sequence, repeated to fill.
Clock face B: Numbers written in sequence and in correct direction until there is no more space.
Clock face C: Correct numbers but unequal spacing.
Clock face D: Correct numbers but 12 not at top.
Illustration 2: Confusing clock hands
When shown a clock face indicating 2 o’clock, a student might say, “it is 12 o’clock”. This student is distracted by the minute hand as it is longer and much closer to the numbers around the outside of the clock-face.
Illustration 3:
Examples of the types of the tasks that would be illustrative of reading an analogue clock to the hour, aligned from the Mathematics Online Interview:
- Question 38 - Create a clock (prior to interview) and discuss features of a clock
- Question 39 (a) - Tell the time on an analogue clock (to the hour)
Teaching Strategies
For Reading the Hour on a Clock teaching strategies, see: Part 2