Worksheet Grade 2 Health & Consumer Science
The Ferris Family's Shower Timer on Dogwood Terrace
A grade 2 worksheet on shorter showers: students add and subtract within 100 using one family's Monday shower minutes and a five-minute goal.
Objectives
- Students will add and subtract two-digit numbers within 100 in a home water-use context.
- Students will compare a family's shower total against a stated goal and find the difference.
- Students will name one way to use less water during a shower.
Vocabulary
Key words: goal, timer, shower, save
Teacher overview
The Ferris family on Dogwood Terrace keeps a small timer on the bathroom shelf and has agreed on a goal of five minutes per shower. Every problem on this worksheet comes from one Monday's times and from the two days that follow, so the numbers stay tied to one household rather than jumping between scenarios. Shorter showers matter in a health and consumer class for two reasons students can follow: the household uses less water, and the water heater does less work, which is where a good share of a home's energy goes.
The arithmetic stays inside 100 and uses only addition and subtraction, matching what second graders are expected to do fluently. Items 6 through 9 build on totals worked out earlier on the page, so plan to read those aloud a second time.
Student Worksheet
Read the story with your teacher. Then answer the questions.
The Ferris family lives on Dogwood Terrace. They want to take short showers. Short showers save water. They also save heat. It takes heat to warm the water. The family set a goal. Each person will try to take a five-minute shower. Here are the times from Monday.
| Person | Shower minutes on Monday |
|---|---|
| Rosa | 8 |
| Dev | 11 |
| Ivy | 6 |
| Sam | 9 |
- How many minutes did Ivy and Sam use in all?
- How many more minutes did Dev use than Ivy?
- How many minutes did Rosa and Dev use in all?
- How many minutes did all four people use on Monday?
- The goal is five minutes for each person. If all four people meet the goal, how many minutes is that in all?
- Use your answers to items 4 and 5. On Monday the family went over the goal. How many minutes over were they?
- On Tuesday the family used 26 minutes in all. How many fewer minutes was that than Monday?
- How many minutes did the family use on Monday and Tuesday in all?
- On Wednesday the family used 26 minutes again. How many minutes did they use in all three days?
- Write one sentence. Name one way to use less water in the shower.
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 minutes. Ivy took 6 minutes and Sam took 9 minutes, and 6 plus 9 equals 15.
- Answer: 5 minutes. Dev took 11 minutes and Ivy took 6, and 11 minus 6 equals 5.
- Answer: 19 minutes. Rosa took 8 minutes and Dev took 11, and 8 plus 11 equals 19.
- Answer: 34 minutes. Adding all four times, 8 plus 11 is 19, 6 plus 9 is 15, and 19 plus 15 equals 34.
- Answer: 20 minutes. Five minutes for each of four people is 5 plus 5 plus 5 plus 5, which equals 20.
- Answer: 14 minutes. The Monday total of 34 minutes minus the goal total of 20 minutes equals 14 minutes over.
- Answer: 8 minutes. Monday was 34 minutes and Tuesday was 26 minutes, and 34 minus 26 equals 8 fewer minutes.
- Answer: 60 minutes. Monday's 34 minutes plus Tuesday's 26 minutes equals 60 minutes.
- Answer: 86 minutes. The two-day total of 60 minutes plus Wednesday's 26 minutes equals 86 minutes.
- Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any workable action, such as setting a timer, turning the water off while washing hair, or getting out as soon as the rinse is done.
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide a hundred chart or base-ten blocks for items 3, 4, and the two-step items so the regrouping can be built rather than recalled. Circle the two numbers needed for each of items 1 through 3 directly in the table before students begin. Item 6 can be answered by counting up from 20 to 34 on the hundred chart instead of subtracting.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask these students to find how many minutes the family would use in a full week if every day matched Wednesday's 26 minutes, then explain the strategy they used to add seven equal amounts. A second challenge is to write a new item 11 for a classmate using only numbers already on the page.
ELL supports
Pre-teach shower, timer, goal, and minutes with a drawn clock face showing a five-minute span. Read the story paragraph aloud twice and have students underline the goal sentence. Provide the frame "One way to use less water is ___" for item 10, and accept a labeled drawing in place of the sentence.
Extensions
Send home a blank three-day version of the same table so families can record their own shower minutes and students can compare each day's household total to the Ferris family's Monday total of 34 minutes. Classes that keep the chart for a week often find the totals drop on their own once the timer is visible, which is worth discussing as a result rather than presenting as a rule.