Let’s Learn!

Let's Learn!

Goal: Estimate times of real-world activities.

Logan is excited to learn estimation and how to calculate elapsed time.

Logan is getting ready to pack everything he needs for his treasure hunt. He wants to time some of his activities. He asks his brother to time him.

Logan is getting dressed, and needs to get his boots on. Think about how long it takes you to put your boots or shoes on. It only takes Logan 10 seconds to put his boots on. Seconds are a unit of time. They are much shorter than minutes and are often used to measure quick amounts of time. In fact, it takes 60 seconds to make up a minute!

Logan is dressed, but he almost forgot to brush his teeth. His brother is going to time how long it takes him to brush his teeth.

How long does it take Logan to brush his teeth? His brother times 120 seconds. 120 seconds is the same as 2 minutes. It takes Logan exactly two minutes to brush his teeth!

Logan is finally packing for his adventure, and wants to figure out how long it will take to pack his suitcase. Logan estimates that it will take 15 minutes to pack his suitcase. Estimated time is about how long it will take to complete an activity. Some things will take a few seconds; others take a few minutes or even a few hours.

Logan dressed as a pirate with a toothbrush

Logan writes down his start time of 3:15 p.m.

Logan finishes packing his suitcase and writes down the end time of 3:35 p.m. How long did it take Logan take to pack his suitcase? Logan counts the time that passed by 5s, starting from 3:15 to 3:35: 5, 10, 15, 20.

Analog clock displaying 3:35. Four jumps of 5 starting at 15.

It took 20 minutes for Logan to pack his suitcase. The time between the starting and ending time of packing his suitcase is what we call elapsed time. Elapsed time is the time that passes from the start of an activity until the end.

Logan is excited to practice his skills in estimating time. He wants to figure out if different estimated times are reasonable. Reasonable means an estimate that makes sense and is close to being correct. A reasonable amount of time for Logan to put on his boots is 5 or 10 seconds. An unreasonable amount of time for Logan to put on his boots would be 5 or 10 minutes.