Timer

Key Stage 1

Meaning

This timer is called a stopwatch.

A timer is a piece of equipment used to find out how long something takes to happen.

Singular Noun: Timer

Plural Noun: Timers

About Timers

There are lots of different timers. Some timers have an alarm that goes off after a certain time. Some timers can be stopped to find out how long something took to happen. These are called stopwatches or stopclocks.

Examples

A chef made sure the eggs were only boiled for 5 minutes.

A scientist measured how long it takes to count to 100.

A scientist wanted to see who could get to the other side of the field in the least time.

Used in a sentence

An egg timer was set to go off after 5 minutes.

A scientist used a timer to time how long it took to count to 100.

A scientist used a timer to measure how long it took each person to run across the field.

Key Stage 2

Meaning

A timer, usually called a stopwatch, is a scientific instrument used to measure how much time it takes for something to happen.

Key Stage 3

Meaning

A picture of a stopwatch.

A timer, usually called a stopwatch, is a scientific instrument used to measure how much time it takes for something to happen.

About Stopwatches

A stopwatch can usually give a time to an accuracy of to 10 milliseconds.

Most stopwatches have a 'lap' function that will keep the timer going in the background while the time that the 'lap' button was pressed will stay on screen until it is pressed again.