TEMPO: Time, always on the move, one of life’s earliest challenges is to describe… a moment … in time…. OK drop the big music… it’s giving me a headache… all I’m saying is, if people ask
VOX POP:What time is it ?
TEMPO:…or….
VOX POP:How long’s it going to take?
TEMPO:You need to know, so me… I’m Tempo by the way… and my good friend Sabrina, a fabulous upcycler, are going to help you get time….well and truly told
VOX POP – GROUP:Round the Clock !
SABRINA: If you think about it, we talk about time a LOT.
SABRINA:Bye See ya. I'll be back home at five o’ clock!
SABRINA:Time is really useful if we need to know how long to wait to cross the road…3 seconds to go, 2 seconds, 1 second, go.
SABRINA:Morning! TEMPO - What are you doing?
TEMPO:I am keeping fit. It's a new exercise routine invented by moi, soon to take the world by storm.
SABRINA:Oh… Sounds great, what's it called?
TEMPO:Er…ahem… it's called "Run for One, Sit for a Bit".
SABRINA:And What do you have to do?
TEMPO:Run on the spot for one second then sit and relax for a while, read a book, listen to some tunes, phone a friend, then run for a second and then sit and relax again.
SABRINA:But one second is really short.
TEMPO:I know, genius isn't it?
SABRINA:I'm not sure that counts as exercise. One second isn’t long enough to do anything useful.
TEMPO:Ho ho ho…. Really ?
VOX POPS:I can click my fingers in one second
Yee… oh
In one second you could score a goal… (GOAL SHOT)
I could put one piece of Lego together in a second
In one second I could do a spin
A second is extremely quick – it goes like this … start… stop
In a second I can touch my nose
In a second I can put my hand up
In a second I can smile
I can wink in a second
I can scream in a second… aaah
BANGS AND POPS – JUMP
2 seconds…
TEMPO:And did you know - A second is roughly this long. "One elephant". That's how I count when I'm doing my Run for One, Sit for a Bit routine, which will be a global hit soon by the way.
CHEERING
TEMPO:Oh yes…. I can see that
Go Tempo… go Tempo
TEMPO:Tempo… inventor and businessman
Go Tempo… go Tempo… go Tempo…
TEMPO:Hello World……
TEMPO:One elephant…. Two elephants… three elephants – that’s three seconds.
SABRINA:Er what do elephants have to do with it?
TEMPO:Nothing, it's just a word that takes one second to say, you could use banana or dinosaur.
SABRINA :But why do we need seconds to measure time, when we've got hours and minutes?
TEMPO:Ask them…
VOX POPS:Seconds are useful because they can be used for a lot of things, like the rocket countdown: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 blast off – they are also useful for microwave, cos my favourite pasta sauce takes 40 seconds to cook
You need seconds because if runners were running you would need to time them
In Judo the point of the game is to hold someone down for 20 seconds, and if you hold them down for 19 seconds too bad, because it’s 20 seconds
TEMPO:Eh… cool… Enough exercise for one day. I'm pooped. Can I have my milkshake please?
SABRINA:Oh I might have forgotten it. But if you give me a second I'll make you a surprise drink that's even better.
TEMPO:Two things sista. ONE you WON’T be one second, now we know how long that is and TWO I'll give you 60 of those seconds, which is one minute, to make my milkshake. Without it, I'll be deadbeat, done in, down at heel…basically… Unable to work …
SABRINA:So you’re telling me I've got 60 seconds to get this sorted. How long is that?
TEMPO:So you can see this thin red hand - that's the second hand, which moves a lot faster than both the other hands. As it moves from one of the little lines to the next, one second passes.
There are 60 lines round the clock so once the second hand goes round the clock, 60 seconds will have passed!
TEMPO:Over to you Sabrina! My work here is done…
SABRINA:I need six strawberries and 2 bananas – perfect. I have some milk, and some plain yoghurt… And some honey.Pop them in the mixer, along with the banana and the strawberries to make two high energy milkshakes.
I need to whizz everything in here for 20 seconds exactly. If I don’t whizz it for long enough it will still be lumpy, and if I whizz for too long it will be all warm and icky.
SABRINA:Can you count elephants with me?
Ok! Go!
SABRINA:1 elephant, 2 elephant, 3 elephant, 4 elephant
CHILDREN VOX POPS:5 elephant, 6 elephant, 7 elephant, 8 elephant9 elephant, 10 elephant
SABRINA:12 elephant, 13 elephant, 14 elephant
CHILDREN VOX POPS:15 elephant, 16 elephant
SABRINA17 elephant, 18 elephant, 19 elephant, 20 elephant
TRUMPETING
SABRINA:Ok stop!
Mmm… actual perfection. Mmm mmm mmm Lovely… very refreshing. Tempo, you're in for a right liquid treat that will really get you going.
TEMPO:Cool
SABRINA:Here you are
TEMPO:No, nothing…Oooowwwwooh, that is good.
SABRINA:What are you doing?
TEMPO:That fruity milkshake has made me feel like Mo Farah himself.
SABRINA:Hurray!
TEMPO:I give you… Run for 60 seconds, take a break with a shake.
SABRINA:Coool, I think I'll join you.
TEMPO:Come on Sista, you can do it… get those knees higher.
Video summary
Sabrina learns how to measure a second using one-elephant two-elephant, and finds out that there are 60 seconds in one minute.
The children give examples of things they can do in just one second, such as scoring a goal or snapping their fingers.
They also think of lots of times when seconds are useful in everyday life, like for athletics, to count down to blast off and to time food in a microwave.
Sabrina needs to blend her milkshake for 20 seconds, and the children help her estimate the time by counting elephants.
From BBC Series Round the Clock.
Teacher Notes
Key Stage 1:
Ask children to look at the second hand on the clock and see how fast it goes.
Count together as the second hand goes right round the clock, stopping when it is back at the start.
Children could work in pairs: one child does an activity and the other uses a second timer or counts (perhaps using 'one elephant', 'two elephants') to time how long it takes.
Activities could include jumping up and down ten times, writing your full name, saying the alphabet or running around the playground.
Key Stage 2:
Ask the children to work together and draw on books and experience to find different words and phrases related to time that are not always used accurately e.g. just a second, in a minute, it took hours etc.
Ask children to estimate one minute by counting 'one elephant', 'two elephants' up to sixty.
Now ask them to find another way to estimate a minute. Are there any other words that can be used? What is important?
Children could be asked to work out how many seconds they have lived for.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Maths at KS1 and KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and First and Second Level in Scotland.
How long is a minute? video
Sabrina is entering a competition to rap the most words in one minute. But how long does a minute last?
How long is five minutes. video
The children make Tempo a clock birthday cake, and use the 5 fingers on their hands to count the intervals between the numbers.
How long is quarter of an hour? video
Sabrina needs to make a 15 minute long video of Tempo for a talent show, we learn how long 15 minutes actually is.
How long is half an hour? video
The children give examples of things in their daily lives that take just half an hour.
How long is an hour? video
It takes Sabrina an hour to get to work on the train – what can she get done on the journey?
Using clocks and calendars. video
Children tell us what dates are in their calendars, and Sabrina makes herself a clock.
A song about time video
Sabrina and Tempo perform a lively song to recap what’s already been learnt about days, calendars and the hands of the clock.
