Week 8 of 10
Time and Money Challenge
Students read clocks, figure out how much time passes between events, count coins and bills, make change, and plan a simple budget - the math people use every single day.
- Estimated time
- 45-60 minutes
- Grade range
- Grades 2-5
- Skill focus
- Telling time, Elapsed time, Counting money, Making change, Simple budgets
- Theme
- The Time and Money Challenge: run your day and your wallet
The story
You've been handed the keys to run the school store for a day - and a schedule to keep. The bus arrives at 3:00, so you need to know how long until then. A customer buys a 65-cent pencil with a dollar and waits for change. And you have exactly $5 to restock supplies. Time and money run the whole day, and today they run through you.
What you'll learn
- Tell time on an analog clock to the nearest five minutes and match it to digital time.
- Find elapsed time between two times using a number line or counting up (from 2:15 to 3:00 is 45 minutes).
- Count a mix of coins and bills, make change by counting up, and plan a purchase within a budget.
Key ideas
- The short hand shows the hour; the long hand shows the minutes.
- Elapsed time is the gap between a start time and an end time.
- Making change means counting up from the price to the amount paid.
Words to know
- Analog clock
- A clock with hour and minute hands.
- Digital clock
- A clock that shows the time as numbers, like 4:30.
- Elapsed time
- The amount of time that passes between a start and an end.
- Change
- The money you get back when you pay more than the price.
- Budget
- A plan for how much money you can spend.
- Value
- How much a coin or bill is worth, like a quarter being 25 cents.
The lesson
On an analog clock, the short hand points to the hour and the long hand points to the minutes. Each number the long hand passes is 5 minutes, so when it points to the 3, that's 15 minutes past the hour. '2:15' means the hour is 2 and 15 minutes have passed.
Elapsed time is how much time goes by between a start and an end. To find it, count up. From 2:15 to 3:00, count 45 minutes (15 up to :30 is 15, then to 3:00 is another 30, totaling 45). A number line of times makes this easy to see.
Money is counted by value. A quarter is 25 cents, a dime is 10, a nickel is 5, a penny is 1. Count from the biggest coins down: a quarter, two dimes, and a nickel is 25 + 10 + 10 + 5 = 50 cents. Bills work the same way at a larger scale.
Making change means counting up from the price to what the customer paid. If a pencil costs 65 cents and they pay with a dollar (100 cents), count up: 65 to 70 (a nickel), 70 to 100 (three dimes) - so 35 cents change. A budget takes this further: with $5, you plan purchases so the total stays at or under what you have.
Worked examples
The hour hand is between 4 and 5, the minute hand points to 6. What time is it?
4:30
The minute hand on the 6 means 30 minutes past (6 x 5 = 30). The hour hand is just past 4, so it's 4:30.
How much time passes from 1:45 to 2:30?
45 minutes
Count up: 1:45 to 2:00 is 15 minutes, then 2:00 to 2:30 is 30 minutes. 15 + 30 = 45 minutes.
An item costs 65 cents and you pay with $1. How much change?
35 cents
Count up from 65 to 100: that's 35 cents. So the change is 35 cents (a quarter and a dime).
Try it: interactive practice
This is the week's practice game. Work through it right here - try each step yourself, then check your thinking.
Activity
Run the School Store
Building exact amounts and counting up for change turns money into hands-on addition and subtraction with a real purpose.
Budget: $15. Pick the items you want and keep the total at or under budget.
- Total
- $0
- Money left
- $15
Pick some items to start planning.
Time check
Question 1 of 1
The store opens at 9:00 and you shop for 45 minutes. What time do you leave?
Hands-on challenge
Store and Schedule Role-Play
What you need
- Play or real coins and bills
- Paper price tags
- A clock or drawn clock face
Steps
- 1
Set out play or real coins and price three 'store' items with tags.
- 2
Take turns being cashier and customer: pay with coins, and the cashier counts up to make change.
- 3
Then make a simple day schedule with three events and figure out the elapsed time between each pair.
You've got it when: You can make correct change by counting up and state how many minutes pass between two events on your schedule.
Checkpoint
Quick checks before you move on. Try each one first, then reveal the answer.
- 1
What time is it when the hour hand is past 7 and the minute hand points to 3?
Show answer
7:15 (the minute hand on 3 means 15 minutes past).
- 2
How long from 6:20 to 7:00?
Show answer
40 minutes (count up: 20 minutes to 6:40, then 20 more to 7:00... 40 minutes total).
- 3
You buy a 70-cent snack with $1. What is your change?
Show answer
30 cents.
Think about it
Why is counting up a helpful way to make change? How is it connected to subtraction?
Challenge problem
You have $5 to spend. You buy a marker for $1.25 and a notebook for $2.50. How much money is left, and could you also buy a $1.50 eraser?
Show hint
Add the two purchases first, subtract from $5, then compare what's left to the price of the eraser.
Show answer
$1.25 left. The marker and notebook cost $1.25 + $2.50 = $3.75; $5.00 - $3.75 = $1.25. You cannot buy the $1.50 eraser, because $1.25 is not enough.
Extension · go further
Plan a $10 party-snack budget: list at least three items with prices, keep the total at or under $10, and show the change you'd get from a $10 bill.
Finished the lesson, activity, and challenge? Mark this week complete to track your progress through the 10-week course.