Time concepts

Introduction

 

NOT EVERYONE SEES TIME IN THE SAME WAY

  Image result for Aboriginal time concepts

Task

 

Learning Objective:
Students, your objective today is to be able to identify and record the differences and similarities between Western and non-Western concepts of time. 

You will be working in co-operative groups using the jigsaw strategy.

Remember, your Home Group is counting on you to bring back information to teach them, put your teaching hat on and use your best communication skills!!

students as teachers

Below is a simple illustration of the difference between the Western and Indigenous understandings of time:

 

Related image

 

         

The Western worldview of time focuses on clocks, calendars and timelines to measure and understand time. Or put another way, time is usually linearly structured and future orientated. The framework of months, years, days etc reinforces the linear structure.

The Indigenous worldview of time is understood in a more circular nature. Or put another way, time is non-linear, cyclical in nature. Time is measured in cyclical events. The seasons are central to this cyclical concept.

 

 

Process
 
 Image result for Clocks

All Expert Groups are to complete Activity 1

Activity 1:

1. Access the following link

http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/perpetual.html

2. Take a close look at the Calendar, notice as many details and patterns as you can

3. Discuss your findings with your Expert Group. Ensure you include the following answers

-Can a month start on any day of the week?

-If a month ends on a Thursday can the next month start on a Saturday?

-Why do you think this is and does it make sense? Support your answer with logical reasoning.

- What other patterns did you notice?

4. Record your findings on your "Western Concepts of Time" concept map. You will take this information back to your Home Group at the completion of your WebQuest.

5. Complete your Expert Group activity that is located below and record your findings on your Indigenous "Concepts of Time" concept map.

 

Indigenous views of time

 

Image result for Aboriginal time concepts

 

 

Expert Group 1: 

1. Access the following link

2. Read the information

3. Discuss with your Expert Group the advantages and disadvantages of the Aboriginal traditional ways of measuring and understanding time.

4. Record notes on your concept map to take back and report to your Home Group.

 http://geckos.ceo.wa.edu.au/Documents/time.pdf

 

Expert Group 2:

1. Access the following link

2. Read the information

3. Discuss with your Expert Group the advantages and disadvantages of the Aboriginal traditional ways of marking  and understanding time.

4. Record notes on your concept map to take back and report to your Home Group.

 http://www.emudreaming.com/whatis.htm

 

Expert Group 3:

1. Access the following link

2. View the clip about Stonehenge

3. Discuss your findings with your Expert Group.

4. Record notes on your concept map to take back to your Home Group.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4560044.htm

Expert Group 4:

1. Access the following link

2. View the clip about Indigenous Seasons

3. Discuss your findings with your Expert Group.

4. Record notes on your concept map to take back to your Home Group.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4761972.htm  

  

Evaluation

 

Did you enjoy your inquiry into time?

Please complete your exit slip.

You are now the Expert in your field and can return to teach your Home Group what you learnt.

 

Teacher Page

 

 

This lesson is part of a bigger unit on NSW Mathematics Syllabus Stage 2 Time 2 content. Students are already able to tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes on both analogue and digital clocks. But for this one lesson, the goal is for students to understand that the Western perspective on time that is the primary focus of schooling and certainly the mathematics curriculum, is not the only meaningful way of measuring and understanding time concepts. At the end of this WebQuest students will be able to recognise that some cultures tell interpret time differently and they will become more familiar with the differences between Western perspectives and traditional Aboriginal perspectives of time.

It is assumed that:
--Students will already know addition and subtraction.
--Students will already know some of their multiplications.
--Students will already know the difference between digital and analog clocks.
--Students will already know how to tell time by the hour, half-hour, quarter hour, and the 5 minutes.

Student Informal Assessment:
As students are working in their Expert Groups, the teacher will walk around and make an informal assessment on how the students are learning by walking around, making eye contact, looking over their shoulder, listening, asking questions, and etc. The teacher will also monitor anecdotal evidence as students engage in discussion within their Home Groups.  

Students will be given a concept map to individually fill out as they complete their WebQuest. Further the lesson conclusion involves filling in a Venn diagram on the similarities and differences between Aboriginal and Western concepts of time.