Worksheet Grade 2 Science

The Well Under Threshfield Farm: A Grade 2 Depth Worksheet

Grade 2 students read a table of the ground layers under a farm to find where water sits underground, then add and subtract depths in feet within 100.

Grade: Grade 2
Subject: Science
Material: Worksheet
Time: 30 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: Printed copies of the worksheet, Pencils

Standards

2-ESS2-3 NGSS

Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.

How this material aligns: Students obtain information from a table of ground layers to identify a place where water is found on Earth that cannot be seen from above, the wet sand layer under a farm, and to state in question 7 that this water is liquid while the pond above it is frozen.

All materials for 2-ESS2-3 →

2.MD.B.5 Common Core Math

Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as drawings of rulers) and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

How this material aligns: Questions 2 through 6 are length word problems in feet, all in the same unit and within 100, solved by adding and subtracting depths read from the side view chart.

All materials for 2.MD.B.5 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-03.

Objectives

Students will name a place underground where water is found and tell what form it is in.
Students will add and subtract well depths in feet within 100.

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: well, underground, depth, layer

Teacher overview

A list of the places water is found tends to stop at ponds, rivers, and oceans, which are the places a person can see. The fictional Threshfield Farm supplies one that cannot be seen: water sitting in a layer of wet sand beneath the fields, reached by a pipe. An underground water layer is easily pictured as an open room like a cave, so the table on this sheet lists the ground as stacked bands of soil, sand, and rock, and the answer key names the wet sand rather than a hollow space. Sketching those four bands on the board as a side view before students begin makes the depths easier to place. The depths also give a set of same-unit length problems in feet.

The Well Under Threshfield Farm: A Grade 2 Depth Worksheet — Grade 2 Science

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Threshfield Farm grows hay on flat land. There is no river or lake nearby. The farm gets its water from a well. A well is a pipe that goes straight down into the ground. This table lists the layers of ground under the farm, from the top down.

Layer, from the top down	How far down it starts, in feet
Dry soil	0
Dry sand	10
Wet sand, where the water is	25
Hard rock	55

The well pipe goes down 40 feet. A pump pulls the water up to the barn.

Water on this farm is found in one layer under the ground. Which layer is it?
The wet sand starts 25 feet down. The hard rock starts 55 feet down. How many feet thick is the wet sand layer?
The well pipe goes down 40 feet. The wet sand starts 25 feet down. How many feet of the pipe are inside the wet sand?
The dry sand starts 10 feet down. The wet sand starts 25 feet down. How many feet thick is the dry sand layer?
A new well on the farm goes down 60 feet. The old well goes down 40 feet. How many feet deeper is the new well?
The dry soil is 10 feet thick. The dry sand is 15 feet thick. How many feet must a pipe go before it reaches the wet sand?
In winter the farm pond freezes on top. The well water stays liquid. Is the water in the wet sand solid or liquid in winter?

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 wet sand. Water on this farm sits in the spaces between the grains of sand, not in an open room.
Answer: 30 feet. Subtract the two depths: 55 - 25 = 30.
Answer: 15 feet. Subtract where the wet sand starts from how far the pipe goes: 40 - 25 = 15.
Answer: 15 feet. Subtract the two depths: 25 - 10 = 15.
Answer: 20 feet. Subtract the two well depths: 60 - 40 = 20.
Answer: 25 feet. Add the two layer thicknesses: 10 + 15 = 25.
Answer: Liquid. The well water stays liquid all winter, while the pond freezes into solid ice on top.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a side view drawing with the four layers already shaded in different colors and the depths written beside each line, then limit the sheet to questions 1, 2, 5, and 7. Let them mark each depth on a paper strip before subtracting.

Extension

Ask students to draw a second farm where the wet sand starts 15 feet down, then write how deep that farm's well would need to go and why. Any depth greater than 15 feet works when the reason names reaching the wet sand.

ELL supports

Fill a clear cup with sand and pour water in slowly so that students see water fill the spaces without making a pool on top. Provide the sentence frame "The water is ___ feet down, in the ___ layer," and allow the depth answers to be given as numbers alone.