Mathematics
Intermediate
50 mins
Teacher/Student led
+80 XP
What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

24-hour Time

Learn to read and convert between 12-hour and 24-hour time formats using real Irish Rail timetables. Understand why transport uses 24-hour time and how to handle times after midnight.

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    1 - Getting Started ~5 mins

    Here is a real Irish Rail timetable line: a train leaves at 14:35. What time of day is that? Is it morning, afternoon, or night? Hands up if you can tell me what o'clock 14:35 means on an ordinary clock.

    2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

    13:00

    Watch the clock. After midday the hours don't start again at 1 on the 24-hour clock. One o'clock in the afternoon becomes 13:00. What did we add to the 1 to get 13?

    18:30

    Now look at half past six in the evening. On the 24-hour clock that is 18:30. Notice the digital readout shows the same time the hands show.

    21:15

    Quarter past nine at night is 21:15. The same hands, a new number for the hour.

    00:05

    This one is tricky. Five minutes past midnight is not 24:05. Just after midnight the clock starts again from zero, so it reads 00:05.

    3 - Try It Together ~9 mins

    Today we work through these four times together on the clock, in this order: 15:00, 19:45, 22:10, and the night-time edge 00:30. For each one we will say it the 24-hour way, then the 12-hour way with am or pm.

    Say it both ways

    4 - Write Both Times in Your Copy ~3 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, draw a two-column table. On the left write the 24-hour time; on the right write the same time the 12-hour way with am or pm. Fill in these four:

    • 13:00
    • 18:30
    • 21:15
    • 00:05

    Then circle every time on your page that happens after midday.

    5 - Class Challenge ~9 mins

    Now we read times straight off the 24-hour clock and say them the ordinary way. For each one, set the hands, read the digital number, then tell us the 12-hour time with am or pm. Try these: 16:15, then 23:50, then the tricky 00:25 just after midnight, then 13:05.

    Read it the ordinary way

    6 - What Did We Notice? ~3 mins

    MATHS TALK

    Why does Irish Rail write 14:35 instead of 2:35 pm? What mistake does the 24-hour clock stop a traveller from making?

    7 - What's Next ~3 mins

    What we learned today

    • After midday, add 12 to the hours to write a 24-hour time, and subtract 12 to read it back as am or pm.
    • Just after midnight the clock reads 00:something, never 24:something.
    • Transport timetables use 24-hour time so a time can only mean one moment in the day.

    Coming up

    Coming up

    Next we use these 24-hour times to work out how long a journey takes — counting on from a departure time to an arrival time within an hour.

    Pupil practice
    Module 5 · Time and Money Measures
    Lesson 62 · 24-hour Time
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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