Worksheet Grade 4 Math
Millbrook Elementary's Water Cooler: Gallons, Quarts, and Cups
A grade 4 worksheet where students convert a fictional school water cooler's gallons to quarts and cups, then solve word problems about refilling it and its reserve.
Objectives
- Students will convert between gallons and cups within the customary system of measurement.
- Students will solve multistep word problems involving liquid volume using multiplication and subtraction.
Vocabulary
Key words: gallon, quart, cup, capacity, reserve
Teacher overview
At the fictional Millbrook Elementary, the school helper refills a large water cooler every morning using several 3-gallon jugs, and students fill small cups from the cooler's spout throughout the day. This worksheet uses that routine to practice converting gallons to quarts and cups (1 gallon equals 4 quarts, and 1 gallon equals 16 cups) and to solve word problems about how much water the cooler holds and how much is left after students use it.
Student Worksheet
Complete the table. How many cups are in 5 gallons of water?
Gallons Cups 1 16 2 32 3 48 5 One jug holds 3 gallons of water. How many quarts is that? (1 gallon = 4 quarts.)
How many cups is 3 gallons? (1 gallon = 16 cups.)
The helper fills 3 jugs like this each morning. How many gallons is that in all?
Use your answer to item 4. How many cups does the full cooler hold?
Each student drinks about 1 cup at morning recess. 54 students visit the cooler. How many cups do they drink in all?
Use your answers to items 5 and 6. How many cups are left after recess?
The helper wants at least 20 cups left for the afternoon. Does she have enough? Explain how you know.
A small cooler holds 2 gallons. How many cups is that?
Why is it useful to know both the gallon amount and the cup amount for one cooler? Write one or two sentences.
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: 80 cups.
5 gallons × 16 cups per gallon = 80 cups.Answer: 12 quarts.
3 gallons × 4 quarts per gallon = 12 quarts.Answer: 48 cups.
3 gallons × 16 cups per gallon = 48 cups.Answer: 9 gallons.
3 jugs × 3 gallons each = 9 gallons.Answer: 144 cups.
9 gallons × 16 cups per gallon = 144 cups.Answer: 54 cups.
54 students × 1 cup each = 54 cups.Answer: 90 cups.
144 cups − 54 cups = 90 cups.Answer: Yes, she has enough.
The cooler has 90 cups left, which is 70 more than the 20-cup reserve she wants (90 − 20 = 70), so the reserve goal is met with plenty to spare.Answer: 32 cups.
2 gallons × 16 cups per gallon = 32 cups.Answer: Both units help with different tasks.
Accept any reasonable explanation noting that gallons are a convenient size for buying or pouring a large amount of water at once, while cups match how much water a single student actually drinks, so tracking both helps the school helper plan refills and reserves.
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide a printed reference card listing "1 gallon = 4 quarts" and "1 gallon = 16 cups" for students to keep beside the worksheet, and work through the first row of the table together as a model before item 1.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask students to figure out how many full days the cooler in item 5 (144 cups) could serve exactly 54 students without a refill, using division and explaining what to do with any remainder.
ELL supports
Provide a simple labeled picture showing a gallon jug next to 16 small cups to make the 1-gallon-to-16-cup relationship visible. Allow item 10's response to be a single sentence using the sentence frame: "Gallons are good for ___, and cups are good for ___."