Time Zones The Problem

Remember the problem: if it is midday where you are it must be dark on the opposite side of the earth, it obviously can't be midday, but what time is it? The earth is divided into time zones. The time is the same everywhere within one time zone, but different to all the other time zones.

Time zones were developed to help trains and ships run on time and not crash into each other on track or at sea and because everyone wants to measure their day with the sun being at its highest point at midday, In 1884, the world adopted Standard Time Zones, a development of Canadian, Sir Sanford Fleming.

There are 24 hours in a day, so there are 24 time zones. The time is the same everywhere within one time zone, but different to all the other time zones. When you move from one time zone to the next one, you change your watch by one hour. If you are traveling in an easterly direction you move your watch one hour forwards, if you are moving in a westerly direction you move it one hour backwards.

Example:

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  Vancouver is west of London, and they are separated by 8 time zones.
  
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  This means that when it is midday (12 pm) in Vancouver it is 8 pm in London.
  
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  When it is midday (12 pm) in London it is 4 am in Vancouver.
  

1. How many time zones are there in Canada?

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2. Why do the boundaries of time zones not always follow a straight line?

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3. Name your home time zone, and the number of hours’ time difference between your zone and the Greenwich zone.

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4. If a hockey game is televised at 8:00pm in Toronto, what time will it be seen in Vancouver?

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5. How big a time difference is there between the Newfoundland and Atlantic time zones?

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6. You are a ship’s captain who has calculated the latitude of the ship as 20○N. Your local time is 10:00am when GMT is 4:00pm. In which body of water are you located?

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USE A MAP OF CANADA TO HELP YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS…

7. If it is 11:00am in Vancouver, what time is it in Nova Scotia? ______________

8. If it is 23:00 in Calgary, what time is it in Quebec? ________________

9. If it is 17:00 in Winnipeg, what time is it in Edmonton? _________________