Mathematics

Intermediate

50 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

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+65 XP

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Elapsed Time and Simple Timetables

Learn to count on from a start time to a finish time using a clock, and read simple bus timetables to work out journey lengths. You'll discover why hopping to the next o'clock first makes the maths easier.

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Count on in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started A bus leaves Gaillimh for Salthill at 9:10 and arrives at 9:45.

How long did the whole journey take? And how did you work it out in your head?

Teacher Notes

Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Listen for how pupils count — do they take one time from the other, or hop up minute by minute? Don't confirm a method yet; the next step shows the count-on jumps that make this easy.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

Here are four elapsed-time journeys on the clock. Each one shows a start clock and a finish clock.

This last one crosses into a new hour.

Teacher Notes

2:00 to 2:35 — a clean count on within one hour; ask the class to read the 35 straight off.

10:15 to 11:00 — count up to the o'clock; hold out for 45 minutes before the reveal.

1:00 to 4:00 — whole hours only, three hops.

3:50 to 4:20 — this is the one that crosses the hour. Ask what the first hop should be (10 minutes to reach 4:00), then the 20 after. Pause before revealing so pupils predict the total.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

What to do

Let's work this journey on the clock together. A bus leaves at 2:15 and arrives at 2:50. Move the minute hand round from the start to the finish and count the minutes as you go.

When we have that one, we'll reset the clock and do two more the same way. Our next journey is 7:40 to 8:00. Our last journey is 11:45 to 12:15, which crosses the hour, so we count up to twelve first and then add the extra minutes.

Count on to the finish

Teacher Notes

Talk this one through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Run the first journey (2:15 → 2:50) live on the clock, then reset the start and finish hands for 7:40 → 8:00 and again for 11:45 → 12:15. On the last one stop the class at 12:00 first (15 minutes to noon), then count the 15 after. Watch for pupils who try to take one time from the other and get muddled — steer them back to hopping forward.

+15 XP

4 - Count on in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

Here is a small bus timetable for Gaillimh to Salthill. Each bus in the timetable is called a service. Each row is one service, with the time it leaves and the time it arrives:

Service A: leaves 8:40, arrives 9:15
Service B: leaves 10:50, arrives 11:20
Service C: leaves 2:15, arrives 2:45

In your copy, work out how long Service B takes. Show your count-on jumps like this for Service A:

8:40 → 9:00 is 20 min, then 9:00 → 9:15 is 15 min, total 35 min

Now do Service B the same way. Remember to hop to the o'clock first, because it arrives in a new hour.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing at the count-on jumps — this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking. Both Service A and Service B cross the hour, so check pupils hop to the o'clock first each time. Service C is a spare for anyone who finishes early.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Today we work through these problems together. Each one is a step harder, and the later ones cross the hour:

A film starts at 4:00 and lasts until 4:30.
Hurling training runs from 6:15 to 7:00.
A train leaves at 11:50 and arrives at 12:25.
School starts at 9:10; small break is at 11:00.

How long did it last?

Teacher Notes

This is the practice round — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The two later problems (11:50 → 12:25 and 9:10 → 11:00) cross the hour — hold the class at the o'clock landmark first each time. Watch for pupils who read "11:00" as eleven minutes rather than eleven o'clock in the last one.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 6 · Time and Money Shape & Space

Lesson 69 · Elapsed Time and Simple Timetables

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Elapsed Time and Simple Timetables

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Count on to the finish

4 - Count on in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

How long did it last?

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