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Just Enough Carrots

Just a Second
by Steve Jenkins
Just a Second looks at time in a unique way. The book takes different units of time and creates images of what can happen in that span of time.
Resources for Just a Second:
Full Book Review (English)
Full Book Review (Spanish)
Brief Book Review (English)
Brief Book Review (Spanish)
**Spanish Versions coming soon!
Activities for Just a Second:
Race Against Time (English)
Just A Second Record Sheet (English)
**Spanish Versions coming soon!
What can you do in a second? A minute? A week? A year?
Math Connections: time, time intervals, length, distance, data
Activities To Do Together:
- Create your own book about time. Include at least one page showing activities you can do for a minute, 10 minutes, and a single hour.
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From the book or your own list, perform different tasks and time yourself while doing it. Did some things take longer to do than expected? Were you able to do other things more quickly than you expected?
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Pick one of the facts from the book that explains how many times something happens in a second. Do the math to see how many times it would happen during a minute, a day, a week, a month, and a year.
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For younger children, discuss how many times per week you do a certain daily activity. Is there an event that occurs regularly? Help your child figure out how many times that happens in a week, month, and/or year.
Extension Questions:
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Why is it important to know about time?
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What are different ways you can measure time?
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What is an activity you do daily that takes the same amount of time every day to do?
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What is an activity you do daily that varies in the amount of time it takes to do it? By how much does it vary? Why do you think it varies in the amount of time it takes to do it?
Vocabulary for Building Math Concepts:
fractions and whole numbers from 1/800 to 6,000,000,000,000, about, almost, average, axis, billion, centimeters, distance, dividing, equal, equivalent, estimated, fastest, feet, fewer, four, half, hour, inches, interval, kilograms, kilometers, length, less, longer, many, meters, miles, millimeters, million, minute, more, most, once, one, ounce, pounds, second, seven, shortest, six, sixty, thousands, three, time(s), trillion, twelve, twenty, two, years
Please check out the Book Guide for Just a Second for more!
Online External Resources for Just a Second:
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Coming soon!