Teacher Guide to Telling Time

When someone is asked the question about what is time and why does it spring ahead and fall back, it is normally met with a blank expression or even all out avoidance. What is time is that it is a method of measurement that is used for durations and intervals between events and to measure motions.

Time is used to allow for measurement of other things, for example speed, or growth, or even progression of living things. There are many uses that time has but it cannot, in itself be defined with a solid definition. What is time can really be answered by calling it a concept of past, present, and future that is constant and can only be measured in minutes, hours, seconds, milliseconds, days, years, and months.

Many philosophers have conceptualized time as events that occur in sequence, where it is a dimension or structure in the universe that contains these events. Other philosophers agree that time is not even a dimension or any type of solid area where there are contained events, objects, or entities that flow through. That time is more of intellectual concept structure that is placed in the same category as space, or even numbers where humans try to measure and compare life's many events.

The measurement of time, or temporal measurement, has become a science all on its own, where science and technology has had many breakthroughs in the recorded history of astronomy, and navigation. The very establishment of devices that measure time is proof of how much effort has been placed in this fascinating concept. Starting with the Egyptians, the sundial offered a concept of time-measurement and attempts at keeping track of days and hours. The invention of the hourglass that used sand to keep track of the flow of time was of great help to travelers by sea.

Time can spring ahead and fall back with the ever-changing time zones during travel from country to country by high speed airplanes. It seems to move too fast when there is too much fun to be had, or too slow for the poor, suffering souls who wish time would not make them suffer longer. It stands still for many people who believe in fairytale-like romance and breathtaking moments. It is, after all, the very essence of what humans are and what they conceive themselves to be in a world full of purpose, adventure and emotions. For indeed, what is time but the very definition of man's existence in the world?

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