Knowledge Explorer lesson
Five-Minute Times, AM, and PM
What do AM and PM mean?
For the minute hand, each number on a clock is 5 minutes apart. Count by fives: when the minute hand points to the 1, it is 5 minutes after the hour; at the 2, it is 10 minutes; at the 3, it is 15 minutes, or quarter past.
There are 24 hours in a day, but a clock shows only 12. AM means the hours from midnight until noon. PM means the hours from noon until midnight.
So 7:00 AM is in the morning, 1:00 PM is in the afternoon, and 8:00 PM is at night. 12:00 PM is noon, and 12:00 AM is midnight.
A schedule lists times and the activities that happen at those times. Read it from top to bottom, from earliest to latest.
What you will learn
- Read time to the nearest five minutes
- Use AM and PM for morning, afternoon, and night
- Read a simple daily schedule
Key facts
- The minute hand moves 5 minutes from one number to the next.
- There are 24 hours in a day.
- AM is from midnight until noon (the morning).
- PM is from noon until midnight (the afternoon and night).
- 12:00 PM is noon. 12:00 AM is midnight.