Math problem set Grade 4 Math

Sample Bottles on the Lantwick Water Testing Route

Ten grade 4 problems following a fictional town's weekly water sampling route, multiplying bottles, tests, and miles and converting milliliters and minutes.

Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Math
Material: Math problem set
Time: 45 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

4.NBT.B.5 Common Core Math

Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models.

How this material aligns: Problems 8 and 9 multiply two two-digit numbers for the twelve-week bottle count and the spring mileage, while problems 3 and 4 multiply larger numbers by one digit.

All materials for 4.NBT.B.5 →

4.MD.A.1 Common Core Math

Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two-column table.

How this material aligns: Problems 5 and 7 apply the relative sizes of units within one system, using the thousand milliliters in a liter and the sixty minutes in an hour.

All materials for 4.MD.A.1 →

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: Problem 10 requires two steps in order, first subtracting the closed sites and then multiplying the remaining sites by three bottles each.

All materials for 4.OA.A.3 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will multiply two-digit numbers to find bottle counts and mileage across several weeks.
Students will convert milliliters to liters and minutes to hours within one measurement system.
Students will solve a two-step problem that subtracts before multiplying.

Vocabulary

Key words: sample, route, technician, milliliter, convert

Teacher overview

Every week a water quality technician in the fictional town of Lantwick drives a fixed route, stops at taps around town, and fills sample bottles that go to the lab for testing. This set follows one full week on that route and then stretches the same numbers across a season, so the bottle count found in problem 1 carries into several later problems. The misconception this set corrects is converting minutes to hours by dividing by 10 or by 100. Metric units step by tens, while the minute-to-hour step is 60, so problem 7 sits directly after the minute total and the key shows the division by 60 explicitly.

Sample Bottles on the Lantwick Water Testing Route — Grade 4 Math

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Problems

The town of Lantwick has 24 sample sites. The technician fills 3 bottles at every site, once each week.

How many sample bottles does the technician fill in one week?
Bottle trays hold 8 bottles each. How many full trays do 72 bottles fill?
The lab runs 6 tests on every bottle. How many tests does the lab run on 72 bottles?
Each bottle holds 250 milliliters of water. How many milliliters are in 8 bottles?
How many liters is 2,000 milliliters?
Each stop on the route takes 10 minutes. How many minutes do 24 stops take?
How many hours is 240 minutes?
The technician fills 72 bottles every week for 12 weeks. How many bottles is that in all?
The route is 42 miles long. The technician drives the whole route 15 times in the spring. How many miles is that?
One week, 5 of the 24 sites were closed for repairs. The technician visited every site that was open and filled 3 bottles at each one. How many bottles did she fill that week?

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: 72 bottles.
Multiply sites by bottles at each site: 24 x 3 = 72 bottles.
Answer: 9 trays.
Divide the bottles by the tray size: 72 divided by 8 equals 9 full trays.
Answer: 432 tests.
Multiply bottles by tests for each bottle: 72 x 6 = 432 tests.
Answer: 2,000 milliliters.
Multiply the bottle size by the number of bottles: 250 x 8 = 2,000 milliliters.
Answer: 2 liters.
One liter is 1,000 milliliters, so 2,000 divided by 1,000 equals 2 liters.
Answer: 240 minutes.
Multiply stops by minutes at each stop: 24 x 10 = 240 minutes.
Answer: 4 hours.
One hour is 60 minutes, so 240 divided by 60 equals 4 hours. Dividing by 10 or by 100 gives the wrong number of hours, because the minute-to-hour step is always 60.
Answer: 864 bottles.
Multiply the weekly count by the weeks: 72 x 12. Break it apart as 72 x 10 = 720 and 72 x 2 = 144, then add 720 + 144 = 864 bottles.
Answer: 630 miles.
Multiply the route length by the number of trips: 42 x 15. Break it apart as 42 x 10 = 420 and 42 x 5 = 210, then add 420 + 210 = 630 miles.
Answer: 57 bottles.
Subtract first: 24 - 5 = 19 sites were open. Then multiply: 19 x 3 = 57 bottles.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students an area-model grid for problems 8 and 9 with the tens and ones already separated, so 72 x 12 appears as four boxes to fill and add. Provide a conversion card showing 1 liter equals 1,000 milliliters and 1 hour equals 60 minutes, and allow a clock face for problem 7.

Extension

Ask students to find how many trays the 864 bottles from problem 8 would fill, then to write a short note to the lab explaining how many extra trays the lab should order if each tray is used only once. Students can also compute the total milliliters in one full week of 72 bottles and express the result in liters.

ELL supports

Pre-teach sample, route, and technician with a simple map showing a truck stopping at four taps in order. Provide a labeled bottle picture with 250 milliliters marked on it, and give the sentence frame "___ sites x ___ bottles = ___ bottles" for students to fill in before writing full answers.