Measuring time in seconds | Year 3 Mathematics PDF Download

Comparing Durations of Time

• Let's explore how we measure and compare durations of time in seconds.
• Remember, there are 60 minutes in 1 hour and 60 seconds in 1 minute.
• Consider these questions:
  • What can you do in 1 minute?
  • What can you do in 30 seconds?
  • What can you do in 1 second?
• Accurate time measurement in seconds is crucial. We must also consider how to record time for activities exceeding 60 seconds or 1 minute.
• Let's compare these time amounts:
  • 65 seconds is equivalent to 1 minute and 5 seconds.
  • 90 seconds is equivalent to 1 minute and 30 seconds.
  • 187 seconds is equivalent to 3 minutes and 7 seconds.

Examples

Example 1: Comparing time durations in minutes and seconds
Two friends run a lap of a playground. It takes Poppy 168 seconds to run all the way round. Imran runs round in 2 minutes, 58 seconds.
Who was quickest?
Sol: In order to work this out, we need to change Imran's time into seconds, so we can compare it with Poppy's time.
Imran's time: 2 minutes, 58 seconds = 178 seconds
Remember, 1 minute = 60 seconds, so 2 minutes is 120 seconds.
120 + 58 = 178.
Poppy's time: 168 seconds
Poppy was therefore quickest, by 10 seconds.

Example 2: Working out amounts in seconds
How many seconds are there in 5 minutes, 37 seconds?
Sol: You can work this out by counting up in lots of 60 seconds, to represent whole minutes, and then adding on the extra seconds.
60 + 60 + 60 + 60 + 60 = 300 seconds
300 + 37 = 337 seconds