๐Ÿƒ Wonderleaf

A Wonderleaf question

Why do we have time zones?

Why do we have time zones?

a real page from the book

We have time zones because Earth turns, so different places face the sun at different moments. Clocks are set in broad bands around the planet so noon usually lands near the middle of the day, instead of being breakfast for one country and bedtime for another.

Before fast trains, each town could follow its own sun clock and almost nobody minded the few minutes' difference. Railways made that messy, so countries adopted standard zones; cross one border on a map, and your watch may need to hop an hour.

Wonder words

  • longitude
  • meridian
  • rotation
  • schedule

Try it out

At sunset, call someone in another time zone and compare what the sky looks like outside each window.

Read the whole picture book

Watercolour scenes, straight answers, about three minutes cover to cover.

Open the picture book

Keep wondering

One more wonder: Why is space so dark?

And the next question?

Ask anything โ€” Wonderleaf writes and illustrates a picture book for it. That's the whole idea.

Ask your own question

The next wonder, by email

A new question goes up every Sunday evening. We email it to you Monday morning, free to read that week.

One wonder a week, nothing else, ever. Unsubscribe in one click.