Worksheet Grade 6 Engineering & Design

Amboti Village Handpump Well Drawdown Worksheet

A grade 6 engineering worksheet where students design a village handpump well, finding drawdown from water levels and pump output from unit rates and a rate table.

Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Engineering & Design
Material: Worksheet
Time: 30 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

6.RP.A.2 Common Core Math

Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b not equal to 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.

How this material aligns: Items 2 and 9 use unit rates such as 4 gallons per minute and cost per family, giving students the associated unit-rate meaning this standard develops.

All materials for 6.RP.A.2 →

6.RP.A.3 Common Core Math

Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations, including finding a percent of a quantity and converting measurement units.

How this material aligns: Items 3, 4, and 7 scale the pump's unit rate across minutes with a rate table to find gallons pumped, the ratio and rate reasoning this standard targets.

All materials for 6.RP.A.3 →

MS-ETS1-2 NGSS

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

How this material aligns: Items 6 and 8 compare the drawdown of two proposed wells and judge each against the stated 20-foot design rule, the evaluation of competing solutions against a constraint this standard names; the other items are rate computation.

All materials for MS-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 calculate well drawdown as the difference between pumping and static water levels.
Students will use a pump's unit rate and a rate table to find gallons pumped over time.

Vocabulary

Groundwater: Groundwater is water that has soaked into the ground and fills the spaces between soil particles and cracks in rock underground. It is a large underground source of fresh water that wells and springs draw from.
Drawdown: Drawdown is how far the water level in a well drops when a pump pulls water out. The harder and longer you pump, the bigger the drawdown gets.

Also: static level, handpump

Teacher overview

Engineers help the village of Amboti design a handpump well that draws water from underground. Before pumping, the water sits at the static level. When the pump runs, the water around the well drops to the pumping level. The difference between the two is the drawdown. A well that draws down too far can run dry, so drawdown is a key number in the design.

This worksheet has students find drawdown, compare two wells, and use the pump's flow rate to plan the village supply. Students see that groundwater is a shared resource that refills slowly, so the pump rate and the drawdown both shape a safe design.

Amboti Village Handpump Well Drawdown Worksheet — Grade 6 Engineering & Design

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Use this scenario for every item. Amboti is a fictional village. Its first well has a static water level 30 feet below the ground. When the handpump runs, the water drops to 45 feet below the ground. Drawdown equals the pumping level minus the static level.

What is the drawdown of the first well?
The handpump lifts 4 gallons per minute. How many gallons does it lift in 10 minutes of steady pumping?
The village needs 240 gallons each morning. At 4 gallons per minute, how many minutes of pumping is that?
Two pumps are compared. Pump X lifts 4 gallons per minute, and Pump Y lifts 6 gallons per minute. How many more gallons does Pump Y lift in 15 minutes?
A second well has a static level of 25 feet and a pumping level of 55 feet. What is its drawdown?
Which well has the larger drawdown, the first or the second, and by how many feet?
Complete the table of gallons the 4 gallons-per-minute pump lifts.

Minutes pumped Gallons lifted

5

15

30

60
The design rule is that drawdown must stay under 20 feet so the well does not run dry. Does the first well meet the rule? Does the second well meet it?
A handpump costs $600 and serves 40 families. What is the cost per family?
In one or two sentences, explain why pumping water out of a well lowers the water level around it.

Minutes pumped	Gallons lifted
5
15
30
60

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: 15 feet. Drawdown = 45 feet - 30 feet = 15 feet.
Answer: 40 gallons. 4 gallons per minute x 10 minutes = 40 gallons.
Answer: 60 minutes. 240 gallons / 4 gallons per minute = 60 minutes.
Answer: 30 gallons. Pump Y lifts 6 x 15 = 90 gallons; Pump X lifts 4 x 15 = 60 gallons; 90 - 60 = 30 gallons more.
Answer: 30 feet. Drawdown = 55 feet - 25 feet = 30 feet.
Answer: The second well, by 15 feet. Its drawdown is 30 feet and the first is 15 feet, so 30 - 15 = 15 feet more.
Answer: 20, 60, 120, 240 gallons. Multiply each minute value by 4: 5 gives 20; 15 gives 60; 30 gives 120; 60 gives 240.
Answer: First yes, second no. The first well's drawdown is 15 feet, under 20, so it meets the rule; the second is 30 feet, over 20, so it does not.
Answer: $15 per family. $600 / 40 families = $15 for each family.
Answer: Water leaves faster than it flows back. Pumping removes water from the well quicker than the ground can refill it, so the level around the well drops, which is the drawdown.

Differentiation

Support

Give students a number line marked at the ground surface, 30 feet, and 45 feet so they can see drawdown as a distance before subtracting. Fill the first row of the rate table as an example. Allow a calculator for every item.

Extension

Ask students to design a pumping schedule that gives the village 480 gallons a day using the 4 gallons-per-minute pump, keeping any single pumping session under 45 minutes. They must show the total minutes and explain how their plan protects the well from too much drawdown.

ELL supports

Provide a labeled cross-section of a well showing the static level, the pumping level, and the drawdown gap between them. Pair each term with the picture. Allow item 10 to be answered with a labeled drawing plus a short phrase.