Elapsed Time Adds Up in This Day-Planning Math Project

When teaching elementary students about elapsed time, make it personal and fun! This easy-to-use math project lets students in grades 3-6 learn about measuring the duration of time (time intervals) as they plan their perfect day.

Students learn what elapsed time is and practice calculating it with a sample schedule of a teacher’s perfect day (don't worry, I included a Target run AND a nap!).

Then they create their own perfect 15-hour day and calculate the elapsed time of each of their 10 activities.

1. They can write elapsed times in hours and minutes (1 hour and 35 minutes) or in minutes only (95 minutes).

2. They cross-check their math by adding up all 10 elapsed times and seeing if they equal the total awake time of their day (15 hours).

3. They can use a variety of strategies to calculate elapsed time: subtraction, counting on, counting back, benchmarks, and/or number lines.

Grades to Use With:

This math project is designed for students in grades 3-6 who are learning about elapsed time and practicing calculating more challenging time intervals. In the USA, this is in Common Core Standards in the third grade and in British Columbia, Canada, it is addressed in Grade 5.

What's Included:

3 Page PDF: Title Page, Teacher's Schedule, Student's Schedule

If you enjoy this math project, check out others in my store! I love to design engaging math activities that show students how the skills they learn in the classroom are actually extremely helpful in their everyday lives. Math is everywhere!

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