Worksheet Kindergarten Engineering & Design

Choosing a Stand for the Pennywort Garden Rain Barrel

A read-aloud kindergarten worksheet where students compare three barrel stands by height and width, then draw a stand that is tall enough and wide enough to hold up.

Grade: Kindergarten
Subject: Engineering & Design
Material: Worksheet
Time: 20 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

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 6 has students judge a stand too narrow to hold a full barrel, and items 7 and 8 have them draw their own stand and say how its wide base and tall legs hold the barrel above a watering can, which is the shape-helps-function sketch this expectation asks for.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-2 →

K.MD.A.2 Common Core Math

Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has 'more of'/'less of' the attribute, and describe the difference. For example, directly compare the heights of two children and describe one child as taller/shorter.

How this material aligns: Items 3 and 4 have students judge each described stand against the height of a watering can, and item 5 asks which of the two stands is taller, which is the direct comparison of two objects by a shared attribute this standard names.

All materials for K.MD.A.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 compare two stands and say which one is taller.
Students will explain why a barrel stand needs a wide base.
Students will draw a stand that fits a watering can underneath the tap.

Vocabulary

Key words: stand, tall, wide, tap

Teacher overview

The garden club at the fictional Pennywort School has a rain barrel to put beside the shed. The barrel catches roof water and has a tap near the bottom, so it needs a stand tall enough for a watering can to slide under the tap and wide enough that the full barrel does not tip. This worksheet walks kindergartners through three described stands and ends with a design of their own.

Read every item aloud and give students time to draw before you move on. The descriptions are written to be heard rather than read, and the height comparisons use body references, a shoe and a knee, so students can check an answer by standing up.

Choosing a Stand for the Pennywort Garden Rain Barrel — Kindergarten Engineering & Design

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Your teacher will read each item to you.

A rain barrel sits by the shed. It catches water from the roof. Draw the barrel and the roof.
The tap is near the bottom of the barrel. A watering can must fit under the tap. Draw a watering can under the tap.
Stand A is a flat board on the grass. It is as tall as your shoe. Can a watering can fit under the tap? Circle yes or no.
Stand B is a stack of blocks. It is as tall as your knee. Can a watering can fit under the tap? Circle yes or no.
Which stand is taller, Stand A or Stand B? Circle one.
Stand C is one thin pole. The full barrel tips right off. Is Stand C wide enough? Circle yes or no.
A good stand is tall. A good stand is also wide. Draw your own stand for the barrel.
Look at the stand you drew. Tell a friend how its shape holds the barrel up.
Rain runs off the roof. Draw a line from the roof to the top of the barrel.
The barrel needs a lid on top. Tell one reason why. Say it out loud.

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: A drawing of a barrel next to a roof. Look for the barrel placed at the edge of the roof rather than far away from it, since roof water has to reach the barrel.
Answer: A drawing of a watering can under the tap. The can should sit below the tap, which is the whole reason the barrel needs a stand.
Answer: No. A stand as tall as a shoe lifts the tap only a little, so a watering can will not fit in the gap.
Answer: Yes. A stand as tall as a knee lifts the tap high enough for a watering can to slide underneath.
Answer: Stand B. A knee is higher off the ground than a shoe, so the block stack is the taller stand.
Answer: No. One thin pole is narrow, so a full barrel leans past the pole and tips over. A stand has to be wide as well as tall.
Answer: A drawing of a stand with a wide base and legs about knee high.
Accept blocks, bricks, a crate, or a small table as long as the base looks wider than the pole in item 6.
Answer: The wide bottom keeps the barrel from tipping, and the tall legs leave room for the can. Accept any answer naming either the width or the height as the reason.
Answer: A line from the roof edge down to the top of the barrel. This is the path the rain takes, and it is why the barrel goes under the downspout.
Answer: A lid keeps leaves, bugs, and trash out of the water. Accept any reasonable reason, including keeping small animals from falling in.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Read the item, then act it out before students draw. Stand a book on the floor for Stand A and a stack of four blocks for Stand B so the height comparison in item 5 can be checked with the eyes rather than remembered from the reading. For item 7, give a page with a barrel already drawn so the child adds only the stand.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask these students to draw a stand for two barrels side by side and explain why that stand needs to be wider still. Have them add one label to their drawing naming the part that carries the most weight, and let them dictate a sentence about what would happen if that part were removed.

ELL supports

Pre-teach stand, tall, wide, and tap with the real objects or with simple sketches on the board, and use the body references in the items as gestures the class performs together. Accept a circled picture or a pointed finger for items 3 through 6, and allow the item 8 answer to be given in the home language with one English word added while you scribe.

Extensions

Set a real bucket with a spigot, or a jug on blocks, in the classroom and let students test their own stand heights with a small watering can. If the school has a downspout, walk out to it after a rain and look at where the water lands, then decide together where a barrel would go.