Elapsed Time Word Problems
Free printable elapsed time word problems: short stories about how long something lasted, when it ended or when it began, with an answer key.
The same elapsed-time question as the worksheet page, phrased as a sentence: "Recess started at 10:15 and ended at 10:50. How long was recess?" Some ask for the duration, some give the duration and ask for the end or start time.
Times and durations land on five-minute steps, no problem crosses noon, and the answer key gives the duration in words. This is the page to use once a student can do elapsed time with clocks in front of them and needs to do it from a description instead.
What this worksheet covers
- Solve story problems about how long something took
- Find a duration, an end time or a start time
Common Core standards
- 3.MD.A.1 Tell time to the nearest minute and solve problems about time intervals in minutes.
- 4.MD.A.2 Solve word problems about distance, time, volume, mass and money, including decimals.
Frequently asked questions
Are these different from the elapsed time worksheets?
Same maths, different presentation. The worksheet page shows clocks or digital times; this page tells a short story and asks the question in a sentence.
Do the problems only ask how long something lasted?
No - some give the start time and the duration and ask what time it ended, and some work backwards from the end. Set the question type to just one of those if you want a page of only that kind.
Why words and not 2:30 for the answer?
A duration written as 2:30 looks like half past two. "2 hours 30 minutes" cannot be misread as a time of day.
What grade is this?
Second and third grade, alongside the clock-based elapsed time pages.