How do we measure time

How do we measure time

Grade 6

Learning objectives:

1. Students will understand the learning points:

• we measure time by spinning of the Earth;
• time is measured in years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds;
• there are different time zones;

2. Students will understand and use words about time, time zones, time around the world, axis.

Materials:

Oxford Discover 3 student book, unit 7, page 66 – 72 [1]; picture matching cards and word cards [2]; sentence matching cards [3]; Planets flashcards [4]; the globe [5]; a watch; a calendar [6]; a calculator [7]; time zones map [8].

В розробці уроку були використані матеріали та рекомендації Oxford Discover 3 Teacher’s Book

The lesson procedure

Warm – up.

1.               Introduce the topic “How do we measure time?” and elicit the answers. Encourage students to share their ideas and write them on the board.
2.               Look at the picture and talk about it [1]

•                   What do you see in the picture?
•                   Is it light or dark here?
•                   Can you recognize a place in the picture?

3.               Critical thinking. Think and answer the questions.

•                   What time is it right now where you are?
•                   What time is it in the other places of the world? How did you find out?

Presentation

1.               Vocabulary

1.               Pair work activity. Word matching. Introduce the words and ask students to say them in their language. Suggest playing a matching game: split the students into pairs and give each pair two sets of cards: picture cards and word cards. Ask them to match the pictures with the words. [2]
2.               Sentence matching. Ask the pairs to match the sentences with the words and to compare their answers and encourage them to make their own sentences. [3]

2.               Reading

1.               Before reading. Invite students to pin in the pictures of the sun and the planets so that there is a solar system on the board. Elicit the names of the planets and encourage to answer the questions

•                   Which planet is closest to the sun?
•                   Which planet is farthest to the sun? How can you tell?
•                   Which planets do you think it takes the most time to orbit the sun?
•                   The least time? Why?

Invite students to look at the pictures on the SB page [1] and have a discussion.

•                   What is the line through Earth called? [5) (Axis)
•                   Which way is the Earth turning? (Clockwise)
•                   How many planets do you see in the diagram? (nine)
•                   How many time zones are there? (twenty four)
•                   What time zone are you in? Is your country ahead or behind zero time zone?

2.               While reading. Ask students to read the text aloud. [1] 
3.               After reading. Have a class discussion.

•                   How does the sun help us tell the time of a day? (the Sun is in different position at different times of a day)
•                   How long does it take the Earth to make one complete turn? (one day)
•                   How long does it take the Earth to turn around the Sun? (one year)
•                   How much time is there between one time zone and the one next to it? (one hour)

Comprehension

Collaborative work. Split the students into mixed – ability groups and challenge them to calculate how many hours / hour in one week there are in each day. [6,7]. Invite volunteers to write the equations on the board and explain them to the class. Possible answer to start: “To be very accurate…”

Wrap up

Divide a class into two teams and invite them to play a guessing game. Student should have a picture of time zones in the time zones map [8]. Give them time to write the questions about time zones. Possible questions: “When it’s 9 am here, what time will it be in…?”. The teams take turns asking and answering. The team with the most points at the end wins.