Shorter and longer
10 minutes is shorter than 1 hour.
One hour is 60 minutes, so it is longer than 10 minutes.
Year 2
Compare and sequence intervals of time
Compare shorter and longer lengths of time and order events by duration.
Lesson overview
Time
An interval of time is how long something lasts. We can compare intervals using minutes and hours, and we can put events in order from shortest to longest or longest to shortest.
Order by duration
Brushing teeth takes less time than a swimming lesson.
Brush teeth
2 minutes
Read a story
15 minutes
Swimming lesson
1 hour
Think about how long the whole event usually lasts.
Equal intervals
60 minutes and 1 hour name the same interval.
Equal times can be written in different ways.
Worked example
Order these from shortest to longest: 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour.
- Compare the minute amounts first.
- 5 minutes is less than 30 minutes.
- 1 hour is 60 minutes, so it is the longest.
- So the order is 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour.
Try it
Compare the time lengths carefully before choosing the order.
Question 1
Which interval is shorter?
Question 2
Which interval is longer?
Question 3
Which order is from shortest to longest?
Question 4
Which interval is equal to 1 hour?
Question 5
Which event is most likely to take the longest time?
Washing hands
about 1 minute
Football lesson
about 1 hour
Putting on shoes
a few minutes
Common mistakes
Watch for these when working through the lesson.
- Thinking 1 hour is smaller because the number 1 looks small.
- Ignoring the time unit and comparing only the numbers.
- Mixing up shortest to longest with longest to shortest.
Related topics
These ideas fit closely with this lesson.
- Tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to the hour, and draw the hands on a clock face to show these times.
- Know the number of minutes in an hour and the number of hours in a day.