Water for Schools
Menu

Math problem set Grade 3 Math

Tamarack's Drought Water Handout: A Grade 3 Multiplication Set

A grade 3 problem set where students read products as equal groups and arrays of bottled water handed out during a fictional town's drought.

Objectives

  1. Students will interpret a product as a number of equal groups of water bottles.
  2. Students will write and solve multiplication facts for equal groups and arrays.

Vocabulary

Key words: equal groups, array, product, case

Teacher overview

The town of Tamarack (a fictional town) is having a dry spell, so its crews hand out bottled water at a stand near the school. Every problem in this set turns that hand-out into equal groups or arrays, which is the meaning of multiplication third graders are building. The problems keep the number of groups and the size of each group visible, so students can see why a product counts a total. A common error is reading 5 × 8 as "five plus eight" or as one pile of forty; the group language in each problem is there to block that mistake.

Tamarack's Drought Water Handout: A Grade 3 Multiplication Set — Grade 3 Math
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Problems

The town of Tamarack has a dry spell. Crews hand out water bottles at a stand.

  1. A crew takes 5 cases. Each case holds 8 bottles. Write this as 5 × 8. How many bottles in all?
  2. A shelf has 3 rows. Each row holds 9 bottles. How many bottles are on the shelf?
  3. A crew makes 6 equal groups of bottles. Each group has 7 bottles. How many bottles in all?
  4. What does 4 × 5 mean at this water stand? Show it as equal groups. Then give the total.
  5. A table holds bottles in 2 rows, with 8 bottles in each row. How many bottles is that?
  6. A crew fills 7 boxes. Each box holds 4 bottles. How many bottles in all?
  7. Draw 3 × 6 as 3 groups of 6 bottles. How many bottles is that?
  8. A student says 5 × 8 and 8 × 5 give different totals. Is the student right? Tell how you know.
  9. A crew has 9 cases. Each case holds 6 bottles. How many bottles do they hand out?
  10. The crew needs 30 bottles. They stack them in groups of 6. How many groups of 6 make 30?

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 40 bottles. 5 × 8 means 5 equal cases of 8 bottles, and 5 × 8 = 40 bottles.
  2. Answer: 27 bottles. 3 rows of 9 is 3 × 9 = 27 bottles.
  3. Answer: 42 bottles. 6 equal groups of 7 is 6 × 7 = 42 bottles.
  4. Answer: 20 bottles. 4 × 5 means 4 equal groups of 5 bottles: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20, so 4 × 5 = 20 bottles.
  5. Answer: 16 bottles. An array of 2 rows with 8 in each row is 2 × 8 = 16 bottles.
  6. Answer: 28 bottles. 7 boxes of 4 is 7 × 4 = 28 bottles.
  7. Answer: 18 bottles. 3 groups of 6 is 3 × 6 = 18 bottles.
  8. Answer: No. Both 5 × 8 and 8 × 5 equal 40, because turning the groups around does not change the total.
  9. Answer: 54 bottles. 9 cases of 6 is 9 × 6 = 54 bottles.
  10. Answer: 5 groups. Groups of 6 that make 30 are found by 30 ÷ 6 = 5, and 5 × 6 = 30 checks the answer.

Differentiation

Support

Give students counters or bottle-cap manipulatives so they can build each set of equal groups before writing the product. Provide a printed multiplication chart for facts they are still learning, and let them solve problems 1 through 5 with a partner. Model problem 4 by drawing four circles and placing five counters in each.

Extension

Ask students to write a "groups of" story for the fact 8 × 7 set at the water stand, then draw it as an array and give the total. Have them explain, using problem 8, why the crew can pack 6 cases of 9 bottles or 9 cases of 6 bottles and end with the same number.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "case," "row," "group," and "array" with a labeled photo-style drawing of stacked water cases. Provide the sentence frame "___ groups of ___ bottles is ___ in all." Let students point to the groups in their drawing as they say the multiplication sentence aloud before writing it.