Elapsed Time Teaching Resources
Browse elapsed time worksheets, word problems and more teacher-created resources designed with your lesson planning in mind!
Aligned with the Australian maths curriculum, each printable and digital activity in this collection has undergone a careful review by a member of our teacher team to ensure it's ready for your classroom — and your students!
New to teaching how to calculate elapsed time? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including an elapsed time definition to help you explain what it is to your students, plus tips on helping your students develop a sense of time and improving their ability to measure and calculate time intervals.
What Is Elapsed Time? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Do you ever wish you had a script handy to introduce new concepts in the classroom? We can't tell you everything to say, but the Teach Starter site is full of handy definitions for common concepts to help you get started.
When it comes to explaining what elapsed time means, here's a definition we like to use with students:
Elapsed time refers to the amount of time that has passed between two specific points.
Being able to measure how much time elapses helps us to do plenty of things in the real world! It can be used to measure the amount of time between the beginning and end of a particular event — such as the start of your maths lesson and the end — or it can be used to calculate how much time it took to get from one place to another, such as the trip from your house to the school.
What Is an Example of Elapsed Time?
Here's a good example of elapsed time that you can share with your students:
If you leave the classroom at 1:10 p.m. to go to the bathroom and return to the classroom at 1:15 p.m., the amount of time that has elapsed is 5 minutes.
How Do You Calculate Elapsed Time?
Calculating elapsed time is typically done using subtraction. The formula we teach our students is:
elapsed time = end time – start time
Your students may find it helpful to start with a number line to calculate the difference between the end time and start time, eventually moving away from the scaffold to calculate the amount of time in their heads.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Worksheets for Beginners
Download a pack of differentiated Elapsed Time worksheets to help your students learn to calculate elapsed time in hours, half hours, and minutes.
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Determining Elapsed Time-Word Problems Worksheet
Print an elapsed time word problems worksheet to provide students with practise measuring the passage of time.
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Elapsed Time - Math Maze Worksheets
Find start times, end times, and calculate duration to find your way through our Year Four Elapsed Time Maths maze worksheets.
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Order Up! Elapsed Time Puzzles
Practise determining elapsed time with a printable pack of nine Order Up! Elapsed Time Cut and Paste Puzzle Strips.
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Elapsed Time Test
Assess your students' abilities to determine elapsed time to the whole, half, and quarter-hour with a printable Elapsed Time Test.
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Clock Reading & Elapsed Time Quiz
Assess your students' knowledge of telling time to the minute and working with elapsed time with this 2-page Telling Time Quiz.
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Time to the Minute and Elapsed Time – Teaching PowerPoint
Teach telling the time to the nearest minute and calculate elapsed time with this 18-slide PowerPoint for teachers.
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Year 4 Elapsed Time Word Problems - Task Cards
Solve different types of elapsed time word problems with a set of printable Year 4 Elapsed Time Task Cards.
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Elapsed Time Word Problems Game
Practise solving elapsed time word problems with an interactive Year 3 maths game.
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Measuring and Converting Time – Teaching Presentation
Learn how to measure and convert time with this 14-slide teaching presentation.
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Elapsed Time Trivia Game
Play an interactive Maths game show to practise telling time and calculating elapsed time.
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Time and Elapsed Time - Task Cards
Solve a variety of time and elapsed time problems with a set of Elapsed Time to the Hour and Half-Hour task cards.
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Calculating the Duration of Time - Interactive Game
Calculate durations of time and have fun with an interactive Elapsed Time game.
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Elapsed Time – Worksheet
A worksheet for students to practise calculating elapsed time.
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Elapsed Time Number Search Worksheets
Review how to find elapsed time and practise learned skills with engaging Elapsed Time Number Search worksheets!
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Elapsed Time Printables (Digital Clocks)
Download a pack of differentiated Elapsed Time worksheets to help your students practise finding elapsed time using digital clocks.
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Elapsed Time Anchor Chart - Problem Solving Strategies
Teach your students how to tell elapsed time with multiple strategies using a printable Elapsed Time Anchor Chart.
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Differentiated Elapsed Time Word Problems - Worksheets
Calculate time between events with a set of printable elapsed time worksheets.
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Elapsed Time on a Number Line Worksheets
Practise finding elapsed time using an open number line with a pair of differentiated elapsed time worksheets.
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Calculating Elapsed Time - Practice Sheets
Calculate elapsed time with a variety of scaffolded elapsed time worksheets.
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Elapsed Time With Analogue Clocks – Worksheet Pack
Review elapsed time concepts with a set of printable elapsed time practice sheets.
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Elapsed Time Worksheet
Determine how much time has passed with this collection of elapsed time word problems.
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Elapsed Time Riddle Worksheets
Calculate elapsed time to solve the riddles in this printable pack of elapsed time practice worksheets.
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Time Elapsed Anchor Chart - Printable
Show students how to calculate elapsed time on an open number line with a printable elapsed time anchor chart.
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Elapsed Time Rulers
Use an elapsed time ruler to help your students determine the duration of time.