Please explain time zones to me

[hpymomof3]

Maybe it's because of lack of sleep but I can't seem to make sense of the world time zones. My dh has been in China all week so my kids brought up the topic of time zones. My understanding is that there are 25 time zones (12 before and 12 after Greenwich time). I'm looking at a map right now and it is currently 12:26 am in New Zealand, which means it is Saturday. What confuses me is that it is only 1:26 am on Friday in Alaska (a relatively close distance regarding time zones). I know that there must be a simple explanation but my brain isn't functioning well right now so I'd appreciate it if someone could explain it to me. Thanks :)

[Virginia Dawn]

Simple? :lol::lol::lol:

You can read all about it at Wikipedia under Time Zone. It's better than I can do. :001_smile:

[Denise in IN]

Maybe it's because of lack of sleep but I can't seem to make sense of the world time zones. My dh has been in China all week so my kids brought up the topic of time zones. My understanding is that there are 25 time zones (12 before and 12 after Greenwich time). I'm looking at a map right now and it is currently 12:26 am in New Zealand, which means it is Saturday. What confuses me is that it is only 1:26 am on Friday in Alaska (a relatively close distance regarding time zones). I know that there must be a simple explanation but my brain isn't functioning well right now so I'd appreciate it if someone could explain it to me. Thanks :)

The difference is due to the International Date Line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_date_line). Good geography study for today!

[In The Great White North]

time zones. There are lots of fun things to do with time zones. I remember playing the "What time is it in____________?" game when I was a kid. Daylight Savings Time makes it more challenging because you have to know what countries/states do DST and when they start.

Another interesting thing is that they were originally developed because of the railroad http://tf.nist.gov/general/history.htm and are regulated by the Dept of Transportation.

[Mrs Mungo]

I need to send this information to the homeschool supply company that called me at 6:30 in the morning the other day. I'm a night owl. They probably thought I was a total idiot, my hubby had to help me give my address, lol.