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The robot car that crossed the desert: by vs until, within, throughout, in time vs on time

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches by vs until, within and in time vs on time through the DARPA Grand Challenge, the desert race for cars with nobody at the wheel.

Grammar
By + a moment for a deadline, until for all the time up to it, within and throughout + a period, in time vs on time, and during vs for as a reminder.
Topic
DARPA's races of 2004 and 2005 and Stanford's robot car Stanley, with words such as sensor and obstacle.
Activities
A field story to read, a robot golf cart ride and a truck driver's voice memo to hear, self-checking drills, a test-drive chat and boxes to debate.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: who's driving?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: robots on the roadVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: the race nobody finished

    • Look at the photo: a robot car in the desertPictureUnlock
    • Read Harper's field storyArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the pairs: the beginnings and the endingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: the cone that stopped a robot

    • Listen to Harper and NilsListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Rohan's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: finish by nine, wait until it moves

    • Study the scheme: by, until, within, throughoutGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: by, until, within or throughoutChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: a deadline or all the time up to it?Fill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Fill in the table: the time word for each meaningFill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Harper's travel planDrag and dropUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: robot cars, yes or not yet?

    • Choose the right replies: plan a test drive with CalChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: robot cars, yes or not yet?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use one of the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what does it mean?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: the race rulesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Harper answers RohanDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Technology vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • sensor
  • obstacle
  • autonomous
  • laser
  • berm
  • switchback
  • time limit
  • waypoint
  • all-nighter

Grammar: time prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time

Each of these time words answers its own question: what is the latest moment, how long does it go on, and were we early enough? DARPA's races had a time limit, a secret route and a winner named a day later, so learners match each time word to the question it answers.

Finish by nine, work until midnight

Time words that say when something must happen, how long it goes on and whether you're early enough.

By for a deadline, until for all the time up to it

By + a moment means at that moment or earlier: be back by 9:30. Until or till means all the time up to it: we worked until midnight. With a negative, until means “not before”: Stanley wasn't the winner until the next day.

By, until, within, throughout

Time wordMeaningExample
by + a momentno later than: at that moment or earlierThe cart must be back by 9:30.
until (or till) + a momentall the time up to that moment, and then it stopsThe class worked until midnight.
not … until + a momentnot before: it happens at that moment, not earlierStanley wasn't the official winner until the next day.
within + a periodinside that period, before it endsFinish the course within ten minutes.
throughout + a periodall through it, from start to endIt was windy throughout the test.

By or until? Ask one question

Does the action go on all the time up to that moment? Use until: wait until nine, work until midnight, stay until the end. Does it happen once, at that moment or earlier? Use by: finish by nine, be back by noon, send it by Friday. Not: I'll finish until Friday. Not: We worked by midnight.

Within and throughout + a period

Within + a length of time means inside it, before it ends: within ten minutes. Throughout means all through it: throughout the night. A day or a clock time takes by: answer by Monday, not within Monday.

Within + a period, by + a moment

within + how long: within ten minutes, within two days, within an hour. by + one moment: by Friday, by noon, by October 5. Not: finish it within Friday. Not: finish it by two days.

In time, on time, during and for

In time means early enough, often with to + a verb: in time to see the first run. On time means at the planned time: The test started on time. During takes a noun (during the run), for a length of time (for an hour).

In time, on time, during, for

Time wordMeaningExample
in time (+ to + verb)early enough to do somethingWe got there in time to see the first run.
on timeat the planned time: not lateThe test started on time, at nine.
during + a nounwhile an event or a period is going onA cone fell over during the run.
for + a length of timehow long something goes onThe cart sat still for an hour.

In time or on time?

In time means early enough, so it often comes with to + a verb: in time to see the start, in time to win. On time means at the planned time, not late: The bus is never on time. Not: We got there on time to see the start.

Common mistakes

Most slips mix up a deadline and a stretch of time: I'll finish the code until Friday needs by, and We worked on the cart by midnight needs until. Early enough to see something is in time: not on time to see the start.

  • I'll finish the code until Friday.

    I'll finish the code by Friday.

    one action and a deadline: by

  • We worked on the cart by midnight.

    We worked on the cart until midnight.

    it went on up to midnight: until

  • Please answer within Monday.

    Please answer by Monday.

    Monday is a moment, not a period

  • We got there on time to see the start.

    We got there in time to see the start.

    early enough: in time

In the desert and in the parking lot

  • Teams had to finish the 2005 course within ten hours.
  • By noon, about half of the robots had dropped out.
  • The route stayed secret until two hours before the start.
  • Throughout the summer, the team tested Stanley on weekends.
  • TerraMax didn't finish in time to win the prize.
  • Come back by noon: the next team always starts on time.

More lessons on this grammar: Prepositions lessons and exercises

Try the prepositions of time exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • tell a deadline from an action that goes on: send it by Friday, but work until two in the morning
  • use within and throughout with a period: Finish the course within ten minutes. It was windy throughout the test.
  • choose in time or on time: We got there in time to see the first run. The judges always start on time.
  • understand not … until: Stanley wasn't declared the winner until about 24 hours later.
  • plan a test with time limits and deadlines: Let's keep testing until it gets dark.

Lesson 2 is the second lesson of AI and the future of work, unit 1 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It goes beyond the for, during and while of B1.1 lesson 26 and the until of B1.1 lesson 11, and its texts keep lesson 1's narrative tenses. Lesson 3 turns to how likely the future is. A race with a ten-hour limit, a secret route and a winner named a day later gives every time word a real job.

Students spin a wheel of questions about robot drivers and being late, then learn twelve words, from sense and navigate to berm and all-nighter, with pictures and audio. They read Harper's field story for The Why Desk on the races of 2004 and 2005, then ride with her in a robot golf cart that Nils's students built and hear Rohan, a truck driver from Nevada, answer back; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them Harper's travel plan with time words to drag in. In the speaking chapter, students plan a test drive with Cal by chat and open boxes about robot cars.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game, then new sentences to complete, a choice between two time words, word order, a quiz on what each sentence means, the rules of a parking-lot robot race and Harper's answer to Rohan with words to drag in.

Grammar:
time prepositions · by vs until · within and throughout · in time vs on time · during vs for
Topic:
DARPA Grand Challenge · Stanley · robot cars · Nevada · Primm, Nevada · AI and the future of work · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Draw two marks on the board: a dot anywhere up to Friday for by Friday, and a long arrow that runs right up to Friday for until Friday. Students put each sentence from the reading under one of them.
  • Ask who is usually early, on time or late before the scheme. Students then say what they always arrive in time for and what never starts on time where they live.
  • Play the golf cart ride twice: first for what happened to the cart, then for every time word, from within ten minutes and throughout the night to until the wind blew the cone over.
  • Use the class's own deadlines: homework due by Thursday, a library open until eight, a test within forty minutes. Students make one sentence of each kind about their own week.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2 · you're hereThe robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between by and until?
By is a deadline; until is a stretch of time. By + a moment means at that moment or earlier: Send the report by Friday. Until + a moment means all the time up to it: We worked until midnight. If the action goes on, use until; if it happens once, use by. The robot car that crossed the desert, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, sets the two side by side in its scheme.
Is it “finish it until Friday” or “finish it by Friday”?
It's finish it by Friday. Finishing happens once, at a point in time, so it takes the deadline word. Until fits actions that go on: work on it until Friday, wait until Friday. With a negative, until means “not before”: I won't finish it until Friday says Friday is the day it gets done. The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai drills both in gaps, a quiz and a chat.
What's the difference between in time and on time?
In time means early enough to do something, so it often comes with to + a verb: We got there in time to see the first run. On time means at the planned time, not late: The test started on time, at nine. So it's in time to see the start, not on time to see the start. In The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai, a truck called TerraMax didn't finish in time to win.
What's the difference between within and in?
Within ten minutes means inside those ten minutes, at any point before they end: The cart must finish the course within ten minutes. In ten minutes often means ten minutes from now: The next run starts in ten minutes. For a deadline on a day or at a clock time, use by instead: by Monday. The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai practices within with a race's time limit.
What was the DARPA Grand Challenge?
It was a desert race for cars with nobody at the wheel, run by DARPA, a U.S. research agency, to speed up self-driving technology. On March 13, 2004, fifteen vehicles set off near Barstow, California, on a 142-mile route to Primm, Nevada, with a ten-hour limit and a $1 million prize. None finished: the best stopped after a little over 7 miles, stuck on a berm. The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai tells both races.
Who won the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005?
Stanley, a robot SUV built by a Stanford team, won the second race on October 8, 2005. It drove a loop of about 132 miles near the California–Nevada state line in 6 hours 53 minutes and won $2 million. The robots started at different times, so Stanley was declared the winner only about a day later. Harper's story in The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai adds why Stanley was blue: Carnegie Mellon had already taken red.
How do I teach prepositions of time to B2 students?
Begin with the question each word answers: is it a deadline, a stretch of time, a period, or about being early enough? Teach by and until first, then within and throughout, and leave in time and on time for last. The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai follows that order, from a race with a ten-hour limit to a table that pairs each meaning with its word.
What's a good game for practicing by and until?
Play “Deadline or duration?”: call out an action and a time (finish the essay, Friday; stay at the party, midnight), and the first student with a correct sentence using by or until scores a point. A sentence with within and a length of time wins a bonus. The boxes in The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai then move to real talk: Plan a fair test for a robot car in your town.
What's good homework for time prepositions?
Homework should test what each sentence means, not just the word: a quiz like “Send your report by Friday.” What does it mean?, a choice between in time and on time, and a whole text with gaps. All ten homework tasks in The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai check themselves, ending with the rules of a robot race and Harper's reply to a truck driver.
How do you practice by and until one-to-one?
Plan the student's real week together: what must be done by a deadline, what goes on until a certain time, and what has to happen within a few hours. The teacher asks When's the latest? and How long does it go on? The chat in The robot car that crossed the desert on edio.ai is done alone: Cal plans a test drive, and each reply needs the right time word.
Are there interactive exercises for in time and on time?
Yes. Three parts of The robot car that crossed the desert, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page with no account: Harper's ride in Nils's robot golf cart, a table that pairs each meaning with its time word and Cal's chat about a test drive. Everything else in the lesson is for account holders.
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