Worksheet Grade 1 Engineering & Design

A Fountain Spout for Quince Hollow: A Grade 1 Height Worksheet

A grade 1 worksheet where students order three drinking fountain spouts by the height of their water arc in cubes and pick the spout that fits a first grader.

Grade: Grade 1
Subject: Engineering & Design
Material: Worksheet
Time: 25 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

1.MD.A.1 Common Core Math

Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

How this material aligns: Item 2 orders the three spout arcs from lowest to highest, and item 3 asks students to compare Spout A with Spout B indirectly by using Spout C as the go-between measurement.

All materials for 1.MD.A.1 →

1.OA.A.1 Common Core Math

Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

How this material aligns: Items 4, 5, and 6 are compare and put-together word problems within 20 built on the three cube heights recorded in the setup.

All materials for 1.OA.A.1 →

K-2-ETS1-2 NGSS

Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

How this material aligns: Item 8 asks students to describe how the bend in a spout changes where the water arc goes, and item 9 asks them to draw a spout of their own and give the height its water should reach.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will order three water arcs from lowest to highest using cube measurements.
Students will compare two arcs indirectly by using a third arc.
Students will explain how the shape of a spout changes where the water goes.

Vocabulary

Water pressure: Water pressure is the push that makes water flow out of a faucet or hose. In town water systems, the push comes from pumps and from water stored high up in tanks and towers.

Teacher overview

The hallway drinking fountain at the make-believe Quince Hollow School was built for older students, so the water arc rises well above where a first grader's mouth reaches and the youngest students end up leaning in awkwardly. A parent volunteer tried three replacement spouts and measured the top of each water arc by stacking snap cubes beside it. This worksheet gives students those three cube heights and asks them to put the spouts in order, compare two of them through a third, and choose the one that comes closest to a first grader's height at the fountain. The measuring unit is deliberately the cube rather than the inch, which keeps the comparison inside first-grade measurement work.

A Fountain Spout for Quince Hollow: A Grade 1 Height Worksheet — Grade 1 Engineering & Design

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Read aloud: A helper tested three spouts at the school fountain. She stacked cubes next to the water. She wrote down how many cubes high the water went. Spout A went 3 cubes high. Spout B went 7 cubes high. Spout C went 4 cubes high.

Spout A went 3 cubes high. Spout B went 7 cubes high. Which spout sent water higher? Write A or B.
Spout A went 3 cubes high. Spout B went 7 cubes high. Spout C went 4 cubes high. Put the three spouts in order. Start with the lowest.
Spout A's water is lower than Spout C's water. Spout C's water is lower than Spout B's water. Is Spout A's water lower than Spout B's water? Write yes or no.
Spout B went 7 cubes high. Spout C went 4 cubes high. How many cubes higher was Spout B?
Spout B went 7 cubes high. Spout A went 3 cubes high. How many cubes higher was Spout B?
Spout A went 3 cubes high. Spout C went 4 cubes high. Put the two heights together. How many cubes is that in all?
A first grader's mouth is 6 cubes high at the fountain. Spout A went 3 cubes high. Spout B went 7 cubes high. Spout C went 4 cubes high. Which spout is closest to 6 cubes?
Spout B has a long bend that points up. Tell one way that shape helps a child drink.
Draw your own spout. Tell how many cubes high its water should go. Tell why you picked that height.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: Spout B.
Spout B went 7 cubes high and Spout A went 3 cubes high, and 7 is more than 3.
Answer: A, C, B.
Ordered from lowest to highest, that is Spout A at 3 cubes, Spout C at 4 cubes, and Spout B at 7 cubes.
Answer: Yes.
Spout A is lower than Spout C, and Spout C is lower than Spout B, so Spout A must also be lower than Spout B. Students may check with the numbers, since 3 is less than 7.
Answer: 3 cubes.
7 − 4 = 3, so Spout B's water went 3 cubes higher than Spout C's water.
Answer: 4 cubes.
7 − 3 = 4, so Spout B's water went 4 cubes higher than Spout A's water.
Answer: 7 cubes.
3 + 4 = 7 cubes when the two heights are put together.
Answer: Spout B.
Spout B is 7 cubes, which is 1 cube away from 6. Spout C is 4 cubes, which is 2 cubes away, and Spout A is 3 cubes, which is 3 cubes away.
Answer: The bend turns the water upward so it arcs toward the child's mouth.
Accept any wording that connects the bent shape to sending water up and out rather than straight down into the basin.
Answer: Answers vary.
Accept any drawing with a stated cube height and a reason tied to a drinker's height, such as picking 6 cubes so a first grader does not have to stretch or bend.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Give these students a strip of paper with 7 squares drawn on it and loose snap cubes so they can build each arc height before answering. Shade the squares for Spout A, Spout C, and Spout B in three colors so items 1, 4, and 5 become a matter of lining the towers up side by side.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask these students to find a spout height that would sit exactly between Spout A and Spout C and explain why no whole cube number works there. They can then design a fountain with two spouts at different heights and label who each one is for.

ELL supports

Post a picture card for each spout showing a cube tower of the matching height beside a curved arrow for the water, so items 1 through 7 can be answered by pointing before writing. Pre-teach four words with gestures: high, low, bend, drink. Allow items 8 and 9 to be answered with a labeled drawing.

Extensions

Measure the real fountain in your hallway with a stack of cubes or a strip of adding-machine tape, then measure the height of a first grader's mouth the same way and compare the two strips. Students can write one sentence to the office saying whether the fountain fits the youngest students at the school.