Quiz & test questions Grade 6 Math

Okafor Household Water Quiz: Percent and Unit Rates

A grade 6 math quiz on a fictional family's water use, mixing multiple-choice, short-answer, and computation items on percent and unit-rate reasoning.

Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Math
Material: Quiz & test questions
Time: 25 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

6.RP.A.3 Common Core Math

Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations, including finding a percent of a quantity and converting measurement units.

How this material aligns: Items 2, 4, and 6 have students find a percent of a daily total and a percent decrease from household water-use figures, the percent reasoning this standard targets.

All materials for 6.RP.A.3 →

6.RP.A.2 Common Core Math

Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b not equal to 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.

How this material aligns: Item 3 has students use a showerhead's gallons-per-minute rate to find the water a timed shower uses, the unit-rate reasoning this standard requires.

All materials for 6.RP.A.2 →

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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 calculate percents of a household's daily water use and a percent decrease after a change.
Students will apply a per-minute flow rate to find the water used by a timed shower.

Vocabulary

Key words: percent, unit rate, indoor use, percent decrease

Teacher overview

This 25-minute quiz is worth 25 points and checks whether students can apply percent and unit-rate reasoning to household water use. It mixes two multiple-choice items, one short-answer item, and four computation items, all built around one fictional family's daily use. The values for average household use, indoor share, showerhead flow, and toilet share come from published figures, while the family itself is invented. Grading is faster if students show the division or multiplication step, not just the final number.

Okafor Household Water Quiz: Percent and Unit Rates — Grade 6 Math

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Assessment

Suppose the fictional Okafor family lives in the town of Redbridge. Use these facts to answer the questions. The average household uses about 300 gallons a day. About 70 percent of that is used indoors. A standard showerhead flows at 2.5 gallons each minute. In a 2016 Water Research Foundation study of single-family homes, toilets were about 24 percent of indoor use.

(2 points) About what percent of an average household's water use happens indoors?
- A) 24 percent
- B) 50 percent
- C) 70 percent
- D) 97 percent
(4 points) The Okafor family uses 300 gallons a day. Find 70 percent of that for their indoor use.
(4 points) A showerhead flows at 2.5 gallons each minute. How many gallons does a 9-minute shower use?
(4 points) In the 2016 study, toilets were about 24 percent of indoor use. Using the indoor total from item 2, how many gallons do the family's toilets use?
(3 points) EPA says a faucet dripping once each second can waste more than 3,000 gallons a year. In one or two sentences, explain what "per year" tells you about how a slow drip adds up.
(4 points) The family fixes its leaks and cuts daily use from 300 gallons to 255 gallons. Find the percent decrease.
(4 points) Which statement is best supported by this quiz?
- A) Most household water use happens outdoors.
- B) A single 9-minute shower can be a real share of a day's use.
- C) Showerhead flow has no effect on water used.
- D) A slow drip wastes almost no water over a year.

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: C) 70 percent. The quiz states that about 70 percent of average household use happens indoors.
Answer: 210 gallons. 300 × 0.70 = 210 gallons of indoor use.
Answer: 22.5 gallons. 2.5 gallons each minute × 9 minutes = 22.5 gallons.
Answer: 50.4 gallons. Use the study's 24 percent toilet share on the 210-gallon indoor total: 210 × 0.24 = 50.4 gallons.
Answer: A slow drip adds up over time. "Per year" means the loss is spread across a whole year, so a tiny, steady drip can reach more than 3,000 gallons by adding a little every day.
Answer: 15%. The cut is 300 − 255 = 45 gallons on a start of 300, and 45 ÷ 300 = 0.15, or 15 percent.
Answer: B) A single 9-minute shower can be a real share of a day's use. Item 3 shows one shower uses 22.5 gallons, a noticeable part of the family's daily total.

Differentiation

Support

Provide the setup for the computation items already written, such as 300 × 0.70 for item 2, so students complete only the final step. Allow a calculator on every computation item, and give a number line for the percent decrease in item 6.

Extension

Ask students to find how many gallons the family would save in a week if each of four people took one 9-minute shower a day with a 2.0-gallon-per-minute showerhead instead of the 2.5-gallon one, and to show the calculation.

ELL supports

Pre-teach indoor use, showerhead, per minute, and decrease with simple icons of a house, a shower, and a stopwatch. Provide a sentence frame for item 5: "Per year means the drip adds up because ___." Allow the short answer to be one sentence.