Telling the time Analogue clocks

Traditional clocks that look like the ones here are called analogue clocks. These are the clocks we use first when we are learning to tell the time. They come in all shapes and sizes.

All about time There are two long pointers on clocks. They are called ‘hands’. The ‘big hand’, shown here, is also called the ‘minute hand’. The minute hand tells you how many minutes have passed in each hour. Click the red square for more information sixty minutes past fifty five minutes past five minutes past fifty minutes past ten minutes past forty five minutes past fifteen minutes past forty minutes past twenty minutes past thirty five minutes past twenty five minutes past thirty minutes past Each number the big hand passes is the same as five minutes in time. Each hour is sixty minutes long.

This clock says 6 o’clock. The ‘little’ hand is pointing to the 6 This clock says 6 o’clock. The ‘little’ hand is pointing to the 6. The ‘little’ hand is also called the ‘hour’ hand. It moves more slowly than the minute hand. Click the red square move the clock on by sixty minutes. The minute hand has moved all the way around the clock but the hour hand has only moved a short distance to the next number. The minute hand moves more quickly than the hour hand.

Facts about time There are 60 seconds in each minute! It takes the big or minute hand 60 minutes to go all the way around the clock. There are 60 minutes in 1 hour. It takes the little or hour hand 24 hours to go all the way around the clock. There are 24 hours in 1 day.

More facts When the big or minute has moved to the number 12 it is called ‘o’clock’. When the big or minute has moved to the number 3 it is called ‘quarter past’. When the big or minute has moved to the number 6 it is called ‘half past’. When the big or minute has moved to the number 9 it is called ‘quarter to’.

More facts When the minute hand has moved to ‘half past’ each hour we stop saying the word ‘past’ and start using the word ‘to’. So… 35 minutes past is called 25 minutes to 40 minutes past is called 20 minutes to 45 minutes past is called quarter to 50 minutes past is called 10 minutes to 55 minutes past is called 5 minutes to

twenty five minutes past It works like this o’clock five minutes to five minutes past ten minutes to ten minutes past quarter to quarter past twenty minutes to twenty minutes past twenty five minutes to twenty five minutes past half past Click on the red square

Clock image available from www.istockphoto.com Presentation ©Bev Evans, 2007 www.communication4all.co.uk