Water for Schools
Menu

Math problem set Kindergarten Math

Pipe Pieces for the Periwinkle Park Fountain

A read-aloud kindergarten problem set where students add, subtract, and compare within 10 while a crew counts pipe pieces for a new park drinking fountain.

Objectives

  1. Students will add and subtract within 10 in a pipe-building story.
  2. Students will compare two groups of pipe pieces and say which is greater.
  3. Students will use counters or drawings to show their thinking.

Vocabulary

Key words: pipe, crew, greater, equal

Teacher overview

A crew is putting in a new drinking fountain at the fictional Periwinkle Park, and the whole job runs on short pipe pieces that snap together, some straight and some bent into elbows. Every problem in this set counts those pieces, and every number stays at or below 10 so students can build the story with counters before they answer.

Read each problem aloud, twice if needed, and give students time to lay out counters. Two problems ask which group is greater rather than how many, which is a different question and should be treated as one. Problems 4 and 5 ask how many more, which is harder than a plain take-away at this age, so build those two with counters laid in two rows before any answer is written.

A common error at this age is starting the count over instead of counting on. A child adding 2 more to a set of 6 may recount the whole set from one, or may answer with only the new pieces. Watch for both in problem 1 and model counting on from the larger number.

Pipe Pieces for the Periwinkle Park Fountain — Kindergarten Math
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Problems

Your teacher will read each problem to you. Use counters or draw the pieces.

  1. The crew has 6 straight pipe pieces. A truck brings 2 more straight pieces. How many straight pieces does the crew have now?
  2. The crew has 8 pipe pieces in the box. They use 3 pieces on the first day. How many pieces are still in the box?
  3. Path A uses 4 pipe pieces. Path B uses 7 pipe pieces. Which path uses more pieces, Path A or Path B?
  4. Path A uses 4 pipe pieces. Path B uses 7 pipe pieces. How many more pieces does Path B use than Path A?
  5. The crew needs 9 pipe pieces in all. They have 5 pieces on the truck. How many more pieces do they need?
  6. The crew lays out 3 elbow pieces and 4 straight pieces. How many pieces did they lay out?
  7. The crew snaps together 10 pipe pieces. Then 2 pieces crack and go in the trash. How many good pieces are left?
  8. Box A holds 6 pipe pieces. Box B holds 6 pipe pieces. Is Box A greater than, less than, or equal to Box B?

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: 8 pieces. Start at 6 and count on 2 more: seven, eight. 6 plus 2 is 8 straight pieces.
  2. Answer: 5 pieces. Take the 3 used pieces away from the 8 in the box: 8 minus 3 is 5 pieces still in the box.
  3. Answer: Path B. Match 4 pieces against 7 pieces one at a time. Three pieces on Path B have no partner, so Path B uses more.
  4. Answer: 3 pieces. Take Path A's 4 pieces away from Path B's 7 pieces: 7 minus 4 is 3 more pieces on Path B.
  5. Answer: 4 pieces. Start at the 5 pieces on the truck and count on to 9: six, seven, eight, nine. That is 4 more pieces, and 5 plus 4 is 9.
  6. Answer: 7 pieces. Put the two groups together: 3 elbow pieces plus 4 straight pieces is 7 pieces in all.
  7. Answer: 8 pieces. Take the 2 cracked pieces away from the 10 snapped together: 10 minus 2 is 8 good pieces.
  8. Answer: Equal. Each box holds 6 pieces, and matching them one to one leaves no piece without a partner, so the two boxes are equal.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Give these students a ten frame and 10 counters, and build each problem in the frame before asking for an answer. Cover the problems not in use with a blank card. For problems 3 and 8, lay the two groups in two rows so the matching is visible without counting.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask these students to write the number sentence for problems 1, 4, and 6 using the plus, minus, and equals signs, then to invent one more pipe problem within 10 for a partner. Have them explain why problem 3 and problem 4 have different kinds of answers even though the numbers are the same.

ELL supports

Pre-teach pipe, crew, elbow, and box with real objects, using a bent straw for the elbow piece and a straight straw for the straight piece. Accept counters laid in a row as a complete answer, and say the words greater, less, and equal while showing the matched rows so the vocabulary attaches to what students can see.

Extensions

Give pairs a bag of 10 paper pipe strips and let them build two different paths from a paper fountain to a paper water main, counting the pieces each path uses, then decide which path the crew should build and say why. Snap-together plumbing pieces from a hardware store, if a family can lend a few, make the same comparison with real parts.