Years

What is a year?

A year is a unit of time that is approximately equal to the time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the sun. It is used to measure the passage of time and is divided into months, weeks, and days.

Measuring years

Years are typically measured using the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days in a common year and 366 days in a leap year. A leap year occurs every four years, and an extra day, February 29th, is added to the calendar to account for the Earth's orbit around the sun not being exactly 365 days.

Understanding the calendar

The calendar is divided into 12 months, with varying numbers of days in each month. The months are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December. Students should be familiar with the number of days in each month and how to read and interpret a calendar.

Calculating years

To calculate someone's age in years, you would subtract their birth year from the current year. For example, if someone was born in 2010 and the current year is 2022, you would subtract 2010 from 2022 to find that the person is 12 years old.

Practicing with word problems

Word problems involving years can help students apply their knowledge to real-life situations. For example, "If Sarah was born in 2008 and her brother was born 3 years later, in what year was her brother born?" Students would need to calculate 2008 + 3 to find the answer, which is 2011.