Hours, minutes and the calendar · Usually met around P2
Long and short months, common and leap years
April, June, September, November have 30.
How to do it
Method
April, June, September, November have 30
Common year: Jan 31 + Feb 28 = 59 days
Another way
The knuckle way
Knuckle: long; dip: short
In full
Long months have 31 days: January, March, May, July, August, October, December. Short months have 30: April, June, September, November. February has 28 in a common year and 29 in a leap year. A fist helps: count along the knuckles, and a knuckle is a long month, a dip a short one (February apart); July and August both land on knuckles. A common year has 365 days; a leap year has February 29th too, 366. A leap year comes every 4 years: 2024 is one, and counting on or back in fours, so are 2020, 2028 and 2032; these years are all multiples of 4.
Worked examples
Have a go first, then open each one for the answer and the working.
Example 1
How many days are there in September?
Show the answer and working
Answer: 30 days
April, June, September and November have 30; the others (not February) have 31: September has 30.
Example 2
May has 31 days.
True or false?
Show the answer and working
Answer: True
Long months have 31; May (in a common year) has 31.
Example 3
A leap year comes every 4 years, and 2024 is one. How many days does the year 2030 have?
Show the answer and working
Answer: 365 days
Counting from 2024 in fours lands on the leap years, with 366 days; any other year has 365: 2030 has 365.
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