Telling Time Like a Pro

Words to Know

Hour hand

The SHORT hand on a clock — it tells you the hour

The hour hand points to the 3, so it's three-something!

Minute hand

The LONG hand on a clock — it tells you the minutes

The minute hand points to the 6, so it's 30 minutes!

O'clock

When the minute hand is on the 12 — zero minutes past the hour

Three o'clock means 3:00!

Half past

When the minute hand is on the 6 — 30 minutes past the hour

Half past four means 4:30!

Minute

A tiny unit of time — 60 minutes make one hour

Each clock number is worth 5 minutes!

Hour

A big unit of time — 60 minutes long

There are 12 hours on a clock face!

Check What You Learned

Fun Facts

• An analog clock has two hands: a short hour hand and a long minute hand

  Source: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.B.3, reinforced in 2nd grade

• The hour hand makes one full rotation in 12 hours; the minute hand makes one full rotation in 60 minutes

  Source: NIST, "Time and Frequency from A to Z"

• Each number on the clock face represents 5 minutes for the minute hand: 1=5, 2=10, 3=15, ... 12=60

  Source: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.7

• There are 60 minutes in one hour

  Source: standard time measurement, SI system

• When the minute hand points to 12, it represents 0 minutes past the hour — "o'clock"

  Source: common English time-telling convention

• When the minute hand points to 6, it represents 30 minutes — "half past"

  Source: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.7