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Worksheet Grade 5 Math

Alderton Reclamation Basin: A Grade 5 Tank Volume Worksheet

Grade 5 students find the volume of rectangular wastewater basins with V = l x w x h, count unit cubes, and convert cubic feet to gallons.

Objectives

  1. Students will find the volume of a rectangular basin using length, width, and depth.
  2. Students will convert a basin's volume from cubic feet to gallons.

Vocabulary

Key words: volume, cubic feet, unit cube, basin

Teacher overview

The Alderton Water Reclamation Facility is a fictional plant that cleans used water before returning it to a river. It holds water in large rectangular basins. This worksheet has students find basin volume with V = l x w x h, count unit cubes in a small model, and change cubic feet into gallons. A common student error is adding the three side lengths instead of multiplying them, so watch for students who write l + w + h.

Alderton Reclamation Basin: A Grade 5 Tank Volume Worksheet — Grade 5 Math
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Use these facts for every item. One cubic foot of a basin holds 7.48 gallons of water.

  • The main basin is 40 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 12 ft deep.
  • The second basin is 30 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 10 ft deep.
  • A model basin is 5 ft long, 4 ft wide, and 3 ft deep.
  1. Find the volume of the main basin in cubic feet. Use V = l x w x h.
  2. Change the main basin's volume to gallons by multiplying by 7.48.
  3. How many cubic feet of volume does one 1-foot cube hold?
  4. How many 1-foot cubes would fill the model basin? Use V = l x w x h.
  5. Find the volume of the second basin in cubic feet.
  6. Which basin holds more, and how many more cubic feet does it hold?
  7. Change the second basin's volume to gallons by multiplying by 7.48.
  8. The crew fills the main basin halfway. How many cubic feet of water is that?
  9. The bottom layer of the model basin holds 20 cubes. Explain how you can use that layer to find the total number of cubes.
  10. Explain in one or two sentences why you multiply length, width, and depth to find volume.

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: 9,600 cu ft. V = 40 x 20 x 12 = 9,600 cu ft.
  2. Answer: 71,808 gal. 9,600 x 7.48 = 71,808 gal.
  3. Answer: 1 cu ft. A 1-foot cube is one cubic foot of volume by definition.
  4. Answer: 60 cubes. V = 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 unit cubes.
  5. Answer: 6,000 cu ft. V = 30 x 20 x 10 = 6,000 cu ft.
  6. Answer: 3,600 cu ft. The main basin holds more: 9,600 - 6,000 = 3,600 cu ft more.
  7. Answer: 44,880 gal. 6,000 x 7.48 = 44,880 gal.
  8. Answer: 4,800 cu ft. Half of 9,600 is 9,600 divided by 2 = 4,800 cu ft.
  9. Answer: Multiply the bottom layer by the depth. The model is 3 layers deep, so 20 x 3 = 60 cubes, which matches item 4.
  10. Answer: You multiply because volume is how many unit cubes fill the space, and length times width times depth counts every cube in the box.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a drawing of each basin with its length, width, and depth already labeled, and a worked example of V = l x w x h for a small 2 x 3 x 4 box before students start item 1.

Extension

Ask students to design a third basin that holds exactly twice the volume of the second basin, list its length, width, and depth, and show the multiplication that proves the volume.

ELL supports

Provide a labeled cube diagram showing length, width, and depth as three different arrows. Allow students to answer items 9 and 10 by labeling a drawing instead of writing full sentences.