WHAT DAY IS IT? WHAT TIME IS IT?

Geography, math (Upper elementary-middle)

Lesson by Evelyn Williams & Stephen Cain

1. The continental United States is about 3000 mile wide. How many time zones does it have?

2. We left Los Angeles at 11:55 p.m. 6/26. We arrived in Hong Kong at 5:55 a.m. 6/28. How long was the flight?

3. The distance we traveled was 7250 miles, what was the average speed? (miles per hour)

4. What time was it at your house when we arrived?

5. Mrs. Roberts lives in Seattle Washington, what time should she call so that she won’t wake up her family? How many hours difference is there between the two places?

6. Mr. Peterson lives in Marshalltown, Iowa, what time will he have to call to wake his wife to milk the cows?

7. Mrs. Williams wants to call her family in Alabama after the evening fire works, what day and what time should she call?

8. Mr. Cain wants to call and check on his little boys during Barney at 8:00 a.m. What time should he call Washington DC? How many hours difference is there between the two places?

9. If you needed to have a conference call with business leaders in San Francisco, Beijing, New York, and Chicago, what would be the best time?

10. Explain why we will leave Hong Kong on 7/27 at 3:00 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles on 7/27 at 1:00 p.m.

11. China’s width is roughly the same size as the U.S. but unlike the US, China has only one time zone. Why do you think they do this? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of the whole country being on the same time zone?

12. Can you explain why there are more hours difference between Seattle and Hong Kong than Washington DC and Hong Kong?

ANSWERS

1. 4

2. 13 hours

3. 557.69 mph

4. East 5:55 p.m. 6/27 Eastern (daylight savings time); 4:55 p.m. Central Time; 3:55 p.m. Mountain Time, 2:55 Pacific Time

5. 9:00 p.m. – 9:00 a.m.

6. 4:00 p.m.

7. 11:00 a.m. 7/6

8. 8:00 p.m.

9. 11:00 p.m. (San Francisco 8:00 a.m., Chicago 10:00 a.m., New York City 11:00 a.m.)

10. When traveling from Hong Kong to Los Angeles we will be traveling east, the same direction the earth rotates (which makes the sun appear to be travelling west). We will cross the International Dateline that will take us back a day, regaining the day we lost on our trip over.

11. Answers will vary.

12. The Prime Meridian is closer to New York City than Seattle, therefore there are more time zones between Seattle and Hong Kong than there are between New York and Hong Kong.