Chapter 12 · NCERT Class 4 Maths Mela

Ticking Clocks and Turning Calendar

The clock ticks through the day and the calendar turns through the year. Reading them tells you when to wake, eat, play and celebrate. Tap each idea to explore it.

🕐 3 topics⏱ ~18 min📝 10-question quiz

Play with it

Six time ideas

Clocks and calendars measure time. Tap each term to see what it means, with an example.

Explore · Timetap a term

Learn

The three big ideas

The short hand points to the hour; the long hand points to the minutes.
There are 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day.
When the long hand is on 12, it is an exact hour, like 3 o’clock.

Worked example. The short hand is just past 4 and the long hand is on 12. What is the time?

The long hand on 12 means an exact hour, and the short hand is at 4, so it is 4 o’clock.

Half past means 30 minutes after the hour — the long hand points to 6.
Quarter past means 15 minutes after — the long hand points to 3.
a.m. is for morning hours; p.m. is for afternoon and evening.

Worked example. The long hand is on 6 and the short hand is between 7 and 8. What is the time?

The long hand on 6 means 30 minutes past, so it is half past 7 (7:30).

A week has 7 days, always in the same order.
A year has 12 months; most have 30 or 31 days, and February has 28 (or 29 in a leap year).
A calendar shows the date, the day and the month together.

Worked example. If today is Friday, what day will it be the day after tomorrow?

Tomorrow is Saturday, and the day after is Sunday.

Common mix-up: The short hand tells the hour and the long hand tells the minutes — do not swap them, or you will read the time wrongly.

Where you’ll meet it

Time around us

Daily routine

Knowing the time tells you when school starts, when to eat, and when to sleep.

Catching a bus

Timetables use hours and minutes so you reach the stop before the bus leaves.

Festivals and birthdays

The calendar tells you the date and month, so you never miss a festival or a birthday.