What Are Time Zones? A Super Easy Guide

Have you ever called your grandma in another state and she was like, it is bedtime, kiddo? But at YOUR house it was only dinnertime? That is because of time zones. They are kind of weird but also really cool. Here is everything you need to know.

What ARE Time Zones?

Time zones are just different parts of our planet where everybody sets their clocks the same way. The time they use is called a localized time. There are 24 time zones all the way around the world and each one is one hour different from the next.

The United States uses six main time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian. The Eastern Time Zone is the latest, and each of the others loses an hour as you travel east to west, following the path of the sun. So when it is 5 PM in Washington, D.C. (Eastern Time), it is 4:00 in Missouri (Central Time), 3:00 in Colorado (Mountain Time), 2:00 in Oregon (Pacific Time), 1:00 in Alaska, and 12:00 noon way out in the Aleutian Islands.

Why Do We Even Have Them?

The Earth spins around like a giant top. One full spin takes 24 hours. As it spins, different parts of the planet face the sun. When YOUR side is facing the sun, it is daytime. When you spin away from the sun, it is nighttime.

Since people live everywhere on Earth, not every place is sunny at the same time. We use time zones so that morning can be morning everywhere. That way you do not have to wake up at 11 PM or go to bed at lunchtime. That would be totally bonkers.

Where Do Time Zones Start and Stop?

Time zones start at a special line in Greenwich, England called the Prime Meridian. It is like the starting line of a race but for the whole planet. If you move west from there, you add an hour for each time zone you cross. If you move east, you subtract an hour.

There is also a wiggly line on the other side of the world called the International Date Line. If you cross it going west, you jump to the next day. If you cross it going east, you go back a day. It is like time travel but for real.

Are Time Zones Permanent?

Kind of yes and kind of no. Most of the time zones stay the same. But in the summer, a bunch of places do something called Daylight Saving Time. We basically trick time by moving our clocks forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall. It gives us extra evening sunshine. Pretty sneaky, right?

Fun Time Zone Facts

• China is HUGE but it only uses ONE time zone for the whole country. That means the sun rises super early in the east and super late in the west.
• Nepal uses a time zone that is 45 minutes off. Not a whole hour. Just 45 minutes. Nobody else does that.
• Some places, like parts of Arizona, do not do Daylight Saving Time at all. Their clocks stay the same all year.
• If you fly fast enough going west, you can land at the same local time you left. It is like the day never happened.