Math problem set Grade 3 Math

The Lakeview Splash Pad Pump: A Grade 3 Liters and Multiplication Set

A grade 3 math set where students use multiplication and a rate table to track how many liters a fictional splash pad's pump adds to its tank each minute.

Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Math
Material: Math problem set
Time: 40 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

3.OA.A.1 Common Core Math

Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 x 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 x 7.

How this material aligns: Problem 1 asks students to interpret 5 × 6 as the total liters five hoses add to the tank each minute, the exact equal-groups interpretation of a product this standard requires.

All materials for 3.OA.A.1 →

3.MD.A.2 Common Core Math

Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l). Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem.

How this material aligns: Problems 2 through 7 add, subtract, and multiply liter measurements to solve one- and two-step word problems about filling the splash pad's tank, matching this standard's liquid-volume focus.

All materials for 3.MD.A.2 →

3.OA.D.8 Common Core Math

Solve two-step word problems using the four operations. Represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity. Assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies including rounding.

How this material aligns: Problem 7 requires combining multiplication and addition into a single two-step word problem about the tank's water level, which is exactly the two-step reasoning this standard asks for.

All materials for 3.OA.D.8 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-15.

Objectives

Students will interpret a multiplication expression as equal groups of liters filling a tank.
Students will use addition and multiplication to complete a rate table for liters added over time.
Students will solve a two-step word problem involving liters using two operations.

Vocabulary

Pump: A pump is a machine that adds energy to water to move it or push it uphill, doing the job gravity cannot do on its own. Water systems use many different kinds of pumps to move water from wells, through treatment, and out to customers.
Flow rate: Flow rate measures how much water moves past a point in a certain amount of time, like gallons per minute through a garden hose. Bigger pipes and stronger pushes give bigger flow rates.

Teacher overview

Lakeview Park (a fictional park used for this problem set) opens its splash pad every morning at 10 a.m., and before it opens, a maintenance worker runs a small pump to fill the splash pad's holding tank with water. This problem set uses that single pump, which moves water through 5 hoses at a steady rate called its flow rate, as the setting for a full arc of multiplication and liter word problems. A common misconception in this math is assuming that any target number of liters can always be reached using a whole number of minutes of pumping; the challenge problem at the end asks students to test that assumption directly and see that it is not always true.

The Lakeview Splash Pad Pump: A Grade 3 Liters and Multiplication Set — Grade 3 Math

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Problems

All problems below use Lakeview Park's splash pad. It is a made-up park built for this problem set. The pump fills the tank using 5 hoses. Each hose adds 6 liters of water every minute.

What is 5 × 6? In this pump, what does the 5 stand for? What does the 6 stand for?
The tank needs 150 liters of water before the splash pad opens. Fill in the table below. Show how many liters are in the tank after each number of minutes of pumping.

Minutes of pumping 1 2 3 4 5

Liters in tank 30
Look at your finished table. How many full minutes does it take to fill the empty 150-liter tank?
One morning, the tank already had 60 liters left in it from the day before. How many more liters are needed to reach 150 liters?
The pump adds 30 liters each minute. How many minutes will it take to add the liters you found in problem 4?
On a busy Saturday, the splash pad needs a mid-day top-off. The pump runs for 4 minutes. How many liters does it add?
On Sunday, the tank had 20 liters in it before a top-off. The pump then runs for 3 minutes. How many liters are in the tank once the pump stops?
Challenge. A worker wants the tank to reach exactly 100 liters. He can only pump for a whole number of minutes, at 30 liters per minute. Can he reach exactly 100 liters this way? Explain why or why not.

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: 30 liters per minute. 5 × 6 = 30. The 5 represents the number of hoses, and the 6 represents the liters each hose adds every minute, so together they add 30 liters to the tank each minute.
Answer: 150 liters (full table: 60, 90, 120, 150). Each entry adds 30 more liters than the one before it: 30 + 30 = 60, 60 + 30 = 90, 90 + 30 = 120, 120 + 30 = 150.
Answer: 5 minutes. The completed table shows the tank reaches exactly 150 liters at the 5-minute mark.
Answer: 90 liters. 150 − 60 = 90 liters still needed.
Answer: 3 minutes. 90 ÷ 30 = 3, since 30 × 3 = 90.
Answer: 120 liters. 30 × 4 = 120 liters added during the 4-minute top-off.
Answer: 110 liters. The pump adds 30 × 3 = 90 liters during the 3 minutes, and the tank already had 20 liters, so 90 + 20 = 110 liters total.
Answer: No, he cannot reach exactly 100 liters this way. 30 × 3 = 90 liters and 30 × 4 = 120 liters, and 100 liters falls between those two whole-minute totals, so no whole number of minutes of pumping gives exactly 100 liters.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Provide a multiplication chart for the 6-times and 3-times facts, and complete the first two blanks of the table in problem 2 together as a class before students finish the rest on their own. Allow students to use repeated addition (30 + 30 + 30…) instead of multiplication where it helps them check their thinking.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask students to figure out how many liters the pump would add in 7 minutes without extending the table, by reasoning from the pattern instead of counting one minute at a time, and to explain the strategy they used.

ELL supports

Pre-teach the words pump, hose, and tank with a simple labeled picture of the splash pad's pump and holding tank. Allow students to show their work for problems 3 through 8 using the completed table and arrows instead of full written sentences.

Extensions

Have students time how long it takes a classroom sink or drinking fountain to fill a one-liter container, then use that rate to estimate how many minutes it would take to fill a much larger container, such as a 20-liter cooler, connecting the splash pad math to a real, measurable rate in their own classroom.