Worksheet Grade 1 Math
Cedar Hollow's Water Tower Pipes: A Grade 1 Length Order Worksheet
A grade 1 math worksheet where students order three model water-tower pipes by length and use the middle pipe to compare the other two without lining them up.
Objectives
- Students will order three objects by length from shortest to longest.
- Students will use a third object to indirectly compare the lengths of two other objects.
Vocabulary
Key words: shortest, longest, pipe, in order
Teacher overview
At Cedar Hollow Elementary, the school custodian is building a small model of the school's water tower for the front office. He has three pipe pieces of different lengths to connect the model tank to its stand. This worksheet asks students to order the three pipes by length and then use one pipe as a go-between to compare the other two without ever placing them side by side, which is the same skill students will later use with a ruler.
Student Worksheet
- Pipe A is 3 blocks long. Pipe B is 6 blocks long. Pipe C is 9 blocks long. Write the three pipes in order from shortest to longest.
- Which pipe is the shortest?
- Which pipe is the longest?
- Is Pipe A shorter or longer than Pipe B?
- Is Pipe C shorter or longer than Pipe B?
- Pipe A is shorter than Pipe B. Pipe B is shorter than Pipe C. Is Pipe A shorter or longer than Pipe C? You did not line up Pipe A and Pipe C. How do you know your answer?
- The custodian wants a new pipe, Pipe D, that fits between Pipe B and Pipe C in length. About how many blocks long could Pipe D be?
- The custodian wants to connect the shortest pipe first. Which pipe should he pick up first?
- Now put all four pipes in order from shortest to longest: Pipe A, Pipe B, Pipe C, and your Pipe D.
- Write one sentence that tells how you used Pipe B to compare Pipe A and Pipe C.
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: Pipe A, Pipe B, Pipe C. Pipe A is 3 blocks, Pipe B is 6 blocks, and Pipe C is 9 blocks, so this is the order from shortest to longest.
- Answer: Pipe A. It is 3 blocks long, fewer blocks than Pipe B or Pipe C.
- Answer: Pipe C. It is 9 blocks long, more blocks than Pipe A or Pipe B.
- Answer: Shorter. Pipe A is 3 blocks and Pipe B is 6 blocks, so Pipe A is the shorter one.
- Answer: Longer. Pipe C is 9 blocks and Pipe B is 6 blocks, so Pipe C is the longer one.
- Answer: Shorter. Pipe A is shorter than Pipe B, and Pipe B is shorter than Pipe C, so Pipe A must also be shorter than Pipe C, even without lining them up directly.
- Answer: 7 blocks. Any length between 6 blocks (Pipe B) and 9 blocks (Pipe C) works, such as 7 or 8 blocks.
- Answer: Pipe A. It is the shortest pipe of the three, at 3 blocks.
- Answer: Pipe A, Pipe B, Pipe D, Pipe C. Pipe A is 3 blocks, Pipe B is 6 blocks, Pipe D is about 7 blocks, and Pipe C is 9 blocks, so this order goes from shortest to longest.
- Answer: Pipe B is shorter than Pipe C and longer than Pipe A, so Pipe A must be shorter than Pipe C, even though Pipe A and Pipe C were never placed next to each other.
Differentiation
Support
Give students three real classroom objects (a short block tower, a medium block tower, a tall block tower) to hold and compare by hand before they answer the worksheet items, and read each item aloud while pointing to the matching pipe letter.
Extension
Ask students to add a fifth pipe, Pipe E, that is longer than Pipe C, state how many blocks long it is, and write the full order of all five pipes from shortest to longest.
ELL supports
Pair the words "shortest," "longest," and "in order" with a simple hand gesture (a small gap for short, a wide stretch for long) that the whole class uses together. Allow students to answer with letters and drawings instead of full sentences for items 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8.