Lesson plan Grade 4 Math

Hartwell's Water Main Break: Multistep Delivery Problems

A grade 4 lesson using a fictional water main break to practice multiplying homes by cases needed, then dividing by van capacity and interpreting the remainder.

Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Math
Material: Lesson plan
Time: 50 min
Prep: Low prep
Materials: Chart paper, Printed word-problem handout, Whiteboard or document camera for modeling, Index cards for the exit ticket

Standards

4.OA.A.3 Common Core Math

Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four operations, including problems in which remainders must be interpreted. 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: Students solve the Birch Street delivery problem and three follow-on street scenarios by multiplying homes by cases needed and dividing by van capacity, then interpret the remainder to decide whether one more trip is required.

All materials for 4.OA.A.3 →

4.NBT.B.6 Common Core Math

Find whole-number quotients and remainders with up to four-digit dividends and one-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

How this material aligns: Every scenario ends with a two- or three-digit total divided by a one-digit van capacity, and students must decide what a nonzero remainder means for planning the next delivery trip, the exact skill this standard targets.

All materials for 4.NBT.B.6 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-16.

Objectives

Students will multiply the number of homes by cases needed per home to find a total number of water cases.
Students will divide a total number of cases by a van's capacity and interpret the remainder to determine how many delivery trips are needed.

Vocabulary

Key words: multistep problem, remainder, dividend, divisor, delivery capacity

Teacher overview

A water main breaks under Birch Street in the fictional town of Hartwell, cutting off service to every home on the block while a repair crew works through the day. Until the pipe is fixed, the water utility delivers cases of bottled water to each affected home, using vans that can carry only a limited number of cases per trip. This lesson uses that scenario to practice multistep word problems that combine multiplication and division, with attention to what a division remainder means in a real situation. A common misconception in this lesson is that students calculate the number of van trips by dividing and then drop the remainder automatically, forgetting that a nonzero remainder still represents cases that must be delivered, which means one more trip is required.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Tell students that a pipe broke under Birch Street in Hartwell and that 36 homes have no water while the crew repairs it. Ask: if each home needs 3 cases of bottled water to get through the day, how many cases does the utility need in total? Take a few guesses without confirming an answer yet.

Direct instruction (10 min): Model the two-step solution on the board. First, multiply: 36 homes × 3 cases per home = 108 cases needed in total. Second, explain that the delivery van can carry only 8 cases per trip, so the crew must divide: 108 ÷ 8 = 13 remainder 4 (because 8 × 13 = 104, and 108 − 104 = 4). Ask students what should happen to the leftover 4 cases. Guide the class to see that those 4 cases still need to reach a home, so the van needs a 14th trip even though it will not be full. Record the rule on chart paper: "If there is any remainder, add one more trip."

Guided practice (15 min): As a class, work through Problem 1 together. Cedar Street has 42 homes, each home needs 2 cases, and the delivery van carries 8 cases per trip. Ask: how many trips will the van make? Have students first find the total cases (42 × 2 = 84), then divide by the van's capacity (84 ÷ 8), and apply the class's rule to any remainder before stating the number of trips. Circulate and check that every table has both the multiplication and division steps written down before moving on.

Independent practice (10 min): Students complete two problems on the handout without teacher help. Problem 2: Oak Street has 19 homes needing 3 cases each, delivered by the same 8-case van. How many trips will the van make? Problem 3: Maple Street has 24 homes needing 2 cases each, but this time a smaller van holds only 9 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make? Students who finish early check their division by multiplying the quotient by the divisor and adding the remainder.

Closure / exit ticket (10 min): On an index card, students solve Problem 4: Pine Street has 15 homes, and each home needs 3 cases of water. The delivery van holds 8 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make? Collect the cards and scan for whether students added an extra trip for the remainder before dismissal.

Hartwell's Water Main Break: Multistep Delivery Problems — Grade 4 Math

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Solve each problem. First multiply the number of homes by the cases each home needs to find the total cases. Then divide the total by the number of cases the van holds. If there is a remainder, add one more trip.

Cedar Street has 42 homes, and each home needs 2 cases of water. The delivery van carries 8 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make?
Oak Street has 19 homes, and each home needs 3 cases of water. The delivery van carries 8 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make?
Maple Street has 24 homes, and each home needs 2 cases of water. A smaller van holds only 9 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make?
Exit ticket (copy onto an index card): Pine Street has 15 homes, and each home needs 3 cases of water. The delivery van holds 8 cases per trip. How many trips will the van make?

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: 11 trips.
Problem 1 (Cedar Street, guided practice): 42 homes × 2 cases = 84 cases. 84 ÷ 8 = 10 remainder 4 (8 × 10 = 80, and 84 − 80 = 4). Because 4 cases are still left over, the van needs one more trip beyond the 10 full ones, for 11 trips total.
Answer: 8 trips.
Problem 2 (Oak Street, independent practice): 19 homes × 3 cases = 57 cases. 57 ÷ 8 = 7 remainder 1 (8 × 7 = 56, and 57 − 56 = 1). The single leftover case still needs a trip, so the van makes 8 trips.
Answer: 6 trips.
Problem 3 (Maple Street, independent practice): 24 homes × 2 cases = 48 cases. 48 ÷ 9 = 5 remainder 3 (9 × 5 = 45, and 48 − 45 = 3). The remaining 3 cases require a sixth trip.
Answer: 6 trips.
Problem 4 (Pine Street, exit ticket): 15 homes × 3 cases = 45 cases. 45 ÷ 8 = 5 remainder 5 (8 × 5 = 40, and 45 − 40 = 5). The leftover 5 cases require a sixth trip.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Give students a two-step chart with the multiplication already completed (for example, "Cedar Street: 42 × 2 = 84 cases") so they only need to complete the division step. Provide counters or base-ten blocks so students can physically model dividing 84 into groups of 8 and see the leftover group that is smaller than the rest.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask students to design their own street with a chosen number of homes, cases per home, and van capacity, solve their own problem, and then write two or three sentences explaining why rounding down the number of trips (ignoring the remainder) would leave some homes without water.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "remainder," "delivery," and "capacity" using a simple drawing of a van holding case icons, with extra cases drawn outside the van to represent a remainder. Provide a sentence frame for the exit ticket: "The van needs ___ trips because there are ___ cases left over after filling ___ full trips."