Worksheet Grade 4 Math

Ravenwood Water District's Well Pump Fill-Time Worksheet

A grade 4 worksheet at a fictional water district where students multiply and divide whole numbers to find gallons pumped and how long tanks take to fill.

Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Math
Material: Worksheet
Time: 30 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: Items 1 through 4 multiply a two-digit flow of 50 gallons each minute by a number of minutes to find total gallons, the multi-digit multiplication this standard names.

All materials for 4.NBT.B.5 →

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: Item 8 is a multistep whole-number problem combining two multiplications and an addition, and item 9 requires interpreting the remainder of a division as the gallons standing in the last jug, which is the remainder reasoning this standard names.

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 a flow in gallons each minute by a number of minutes to find total gallons.
Students will use multiplication and division to find fill times and interpret a remainder in a water context.

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.

Also: flow, fill

Teacher overview

The fictional Ravenwood Water District runs a well pump that moves 50 gallons of water each minute into its storage tanks. This worksheet has students find total gallons by multiplying that flow by a number of minutes, and find fill times by working out how many minutes it takes to reach a given number of gallons. A common error is adding the flow and the minutes instead of multiplying; remind students that a steady amount moved every minute calls for multiplication. Each item states its own numbers so students can solve it on its own.

Ravenwood Water District's Well Pump Fill-Time Worksheet — Grade 4 Math

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

The Ravenwood well pump moves 50 gallons of water each minute. Use that flow wherever an item needs it. Show your work and label each answer.

How many gallons does the pump move in 4 minutes?
How many gallons does the pump move in 9 minutes?
How many gallons does the pump move in 20 minutes?
The pump runs for 1 hour. One hour is 60 minutes. How many gallons does it move in that hour?
A tank holds 300 gallons and starts empty. The pump moves 50 gallons each minute. How many minutes will it take to fill the tank? (Think: 50 times what number equals 300?)
A larger tank holds 1,000 gallons and starts empty. How many minutes will the pump take to fill it?
Two well pumps each move 50 gallons each minute. How many gallons do both pumps move together in 1 minute?
The pump ran 30 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. How many gallons did it move in all that day?
Workers fill 5-gallon sample jugs from the tap. They collect 38 gallons for testing. How many jugs do they fill all the way, and how many gallons are in the last jug?
The pump never changes its speed. Explain why a bigger tank takes more minutes to fill than a smaller tank. Use the words "gallons" and "minutes."

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: 200 gallons. 50 x 4 = 200 gallons.
Answer: 450 gallons. 50 x 9 = 450 gallons.
Answer: 1,000 gallons. 50 x 20 = 1,000 gallons.
Answer: 3,000 gallons. One hour is 60 minutes, and 50 x 60 = 3,000 gallons.
Answer: 6 minutes. 50 x 6 = 300, so the pump reaches 300 gallons in 6 minutes.
Answer: 20 minutes. 50 x 20 = 1,000, so the pump reaches 1,000 gallons in 20 minutes.
Answer: 100 gallons. Each pump moves 50 gallons in one minute, so 50 + 50 = 100 gallons together.
Answer: 2,250 gallons. Morning: 50 x 30 = 1,500 gallons. Afternoon: 50 x 15 = 750 gallons. In all: 1,500 + 750 = 2,250 gallons.
Answer: 7 full jugs, with 3 gallons in the last jug. 38 / 5 = 7 with a remainder of 3, so 7 jugs fill all the way (5 x 7 = 35 gallons) and 3 gallons go in an 8th jug.
Answer: A bigger tank holds more gallons, so at the same 50 gallons each minute the pump must run more minutes to fill it. Accept any answer that connects more gallons to more minutes at a steady flow.

Differentiation

Support

Give students a printed number line marked in fifties (50, 100, 150, and so on) so they can skip-count for items 1 through 6. Start with items 1 and 2, which use a one-digit number of minutes, before the larger ones, and provide a multiplication chart.

Extension

Ask students to find how many minutes the pump needs to fill a 2,500-gallon tank, then check the answer by multiplying the minutes back by 50. Have them explain how they used the relationship between multiplication and division.

ELL supports

Provide a labeled picture of a pump with an arrow showing 50 gallons leaving each minute. Give a sentence frame for the word problems: "The pump moves ___ gallons each minute for ___ minutes, so I multiply to get ___ gallons."