Worksheet Grade 1 Science

Skinny Pipe or Wide Pipe on Ironhill Lane: A Grade 1 Worksheet

Room 5 poured water through a skinny straw and a wide straw for the same count, then used the cup totals to explain why pipe width changes the flow.

Grade: Grade 1
Subject: Science
Material: Worksheet
Time: 30 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

K-2-ETS1-3 NGSS

Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

How this material aligns: Items 1, 4, and 10 analyze the cup counts from the two drained jugs, comparing the skinny straw with the wide straw, and items 7 and 8 use that comparison to judge which opening carries more water for the job.

All materials for K-2-ETS1-3 →

1.MD.C.4 Common Core Math

Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.

How this material aligns: Items 1 through 5 read a two-category chart of cups collected, give the count in each category and the total across both, and answer how many more came from the wide straw than the skinny one.

All materials for 1.MD.C.4 →

1.OA.C.6 Common Core Math

Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten; decomposing a number leading to a ten; using the relationship between addition and subtraction; and creating equivalent but easier or known sums.

How this material aligns: Items 4 and 5 subtract 3 from 8 and add 8 and 3, so students practice fluent addition and subtraction within twenty using the cup counts from the class test.

All materials for 1.OA.C.6 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-04.

Objectives

Students will read a two-category chart of how many cups each straw filled.
Students will add and subtract within twenty to compare the two straw totals.
Students will explain how the width of a pipe changes how much water gets through.

Vocabulary

Key words: pipe, skinny, wide, flow

Teacher overview

The crew in the fictional town of Ironhill is pulling out the old skinny water pipe under Ironhill Lane and putting in a wider one, and Room 5 built a tabletop version of the same question. The class taped a skinny straw into the bottom of one jug and a wide straw into the bottom of a second jug, filled both jugs to the same line, and let each one drain into cups while the class counted to twenty. This worksheet gives students the cup totals and asks them to compare the two straws and say why width matters. The misconception to name up front is that any pipe will carry the same amount of water as long as there is water behind it; both jugs started at the same line, so both started with the same push from the water, and the size of the opening is what made the difference. A second point worth raising is that rust and buildup inside an old pipe narrow that same opening from the inside.

Skinny Pipe or Wide Pipe on Ironhill Lane: A Grade 1 Worksheet — Grade 1 Science

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Room 5 tested two straws. One straw was skinny. One straw was wide. Both jugs held the same water. Both jugs drained while the class counted to twenty. The class counted the cups that filled up.

Straw	Cups it filled
Skinny straw	3
Wide straw	8

Which straw let more water through?
How many cups came out of the wide straw?
How many cups came out of the skinny straw?
How many more cups came from the wide straw than the skinny straw?
How many cups filled up in all?
Both jugs held the same water. Both drained for the same count. Tell why that made the test fair.
The old pipe on Ironhill Lane is skinny. The new pipe is wide. Which pipe will bring more water to the school in one minute?
The school wants to fill a big wading pool fast. Should the crew use a skinny hose or a wide hose? Tell why.
A crew opened an old pipe and found rust all around the inside. The open space in the middle got smaller. Tell what happens to the water that gets through.
Write one sentence. Tell what Room 5's test shows about pipe size and water.

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: The wide straw.
The chart credits it with 8 cups against 3 cups for the skinny straw.
Answer: 8 cups.
The chart lists the wide straw at 8 cups filled.
Answer: 3 cups.
The chart lists the skinny straw at 3 cups filled.
Answer: 5 cups.
The wide straw filled 8 cups and the skinny straw filled 3 cups, and 8 minus 3 is 5.
Answer: 11 cups.
Adding the 8 cups from the wide straw and the 3 cups from the skinny straw gives 11 cups.
Answer: Accept any answer naming the parts kept the same.
Sample response: the jugs started with the same water and drained for the same count, so the only thing different was the straw, and the straw has to be what changed the result.
Answer: The wide pipe.
It has a bigger opening, so more water can pass through it in the same minute, exactly as the wide straw filled more cups.
Answer: The wide hose.
A bigger opening carries more water each minute, so the pool reaches the fill line sooner.
Answer: Less water gets through.
Rust narrows the open space in the middle, which turns a wide pipe into something closer to the skinny straw and cuts the flow.
Answer: Accept any sentence linking a bigger opening to more water.
Sample response: a wide pipe lets more water through than a skinny pipe in the same amount of time.

Differentiation

Support

Set 8 counters in one row and 3 counters in another row so students can match them one to one for item 4 and push them together for item 5 rather than working from the numerals. For items 7 through 9, restate each situation while holding up the two real straws, and let students point to the straw that answers the question before writing.

Extension

Ask students to predict what a third straw, halfway between the two in width, would collect, then write the number they expect and one sentence explaining the choice. Students ready for more can plan a version of the test that keeps the straws the same and changes how high the jug sits, and say what they would keep the same to keep it fair.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "pipe," "skinny," "wide," and "flow" by giving each student their own cocktail straw and smoothie straw to blow air through and feel the difference. Accept a drawing of the two straws with the cup counts written beside them in place of written sentences for items 6 through 10.

Extensions

Run the same comparison with two funnels of different spout widths draining into a tub, timing each with the classroom clock instead of a count. Pairing the straw chart with the funnel result gives students two pieces of evidence for the same idea, which is how a distribution crew builds a case for replacing an undersized main.