On a clock, the minute hand points to the 6 and the hour hand is just past the 3. What time is it?
A3:06 — the minute hand is on 6, so it's 6 minutes past
B3:30 — the minute hand on 6 means 30 minutes past
C6:15 — the minute hand is on 6 and the hour hand is near 3
D3:16 — count 6 marks starting from 10
Each number on the clock represents 5 minutes. The 6 = 5 × 6 = 30 minutes. The hour hand just past the 3 means it's in the 3 o'clock hour. So the time is 3:30. The most common error (option A) reads the number the minute hand points to as literal minutes — forgetting that each number represents a 5-minute interval.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
The minute hand points to the 9 and the hour hand is between 4 and 5, closer to the 5. What time is it?
A9:45 — the minute hand says 9 and the hour hand is near 5
B4:45 — skip count to 9: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45; the hour hand last passed 4
C5:09 — the hour is nearly 5 and the minute is 9
D4:09 — the hour is 4 and the minute is 9
Skip count by 5s to where the minute hand points: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 — the minute hand on 9 means 45 minutes. The hour hand between 4 and 5 means it last passed 4. So the time is 4:45. Options A and C misread the hour hand; options C and D read the minute hand as a literal number rather than skip counting.
Question 3 True / False
When the minute hand points to 3, it means 3 minutes have passed since the last hour.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
The minute hand on 3 means 15 minutes have passed, not 3. Each number on the clock represents 5 minutes — skip count to 3: 5, 10, 15. The number is a label; the minutes are found by multiplying the number by 5 (or skip counting to it). Reading the number as literal minutes is the most common error when learning to tell time.
Question 4 True / False
The hour hand shows the most recent whole hour it has passed, not the next hour it is approaching.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
The hour hand moves slowly and continuously. At 4:45, the hour hand is close to the 5 — but the time is still in the 4 o'clock hour because it hasn't reached 5 yet. The rule is: the hour is determined by the last whole number the hour hand passed. Students who read the nearer number get the hour wrong for times like 4:45 or 11:50.
Question 5 Short Answer
Why do you skip count by 5s when reading the minute hand, instead of just reading the number it points to?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: The clock only shows 12 numbers, but a full hour has 60 minutes. Each number represents a 5-minute interval — so the minute hand travels through 5 minutes between each numbered mark. When the minute hand points to 4, it has traveled 4 × 5 = 20 minutes past the hour. You skip count by 5s to convert the clock-face number into the actual minutes.
Students who don't understand why skip counting applies read clock numbers as literal minutes and consistently get the wrong answer. Understanding that each number = 5 minutes connects the skill to the structure of the clock and makes the reading strategy make sense rather than feel arbitrary.