Time Zones: Who Has Time for That?

Arianna Bonner, Social Studies, Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School

Curriculum Unit (pdf)

Synopsis

This Curriculum Unit is about Time Zones. The lessons will require students to analyze the necessity of Time Zones in our modern world. The creation of Time Zones as a solution to an every growing global community. As humans began to interact with each other, further and further from their local communities, on a more consistent basis there became a need to a general understanding of the social timeliness of communication. This unit will introduce students to the historical need for time zones. Students will evaluate the effectiveness of time zones in our current global society. Students will then form opinions about the structure of our modern time zones. The teacher will be responsible for facilitating a debate on the necessity of time zones in our global community. If time is a societal construct, then humans should be able to change their approach to time as needed. Students will have to explore the way they view time, as well as the way society views time. The goal is to challenge students with their own understanding of time and its relationship to distance.