Worksheet Grade 3 Science

Harrowby's Tower Height Test: A Grade 3 Water Pressure Worksheet

A grade 3 worksheet built on an invented bottle test from a made-up town, with a scaled bar graph of squirt lengths and questions about where to put a tower.

Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Material: Worksheet
Time: 35 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: Graph paper, one sheet per student

Standards

3-5-ETS1-3 NGSS

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

How this material aligns: Items 8 through 10 name the one changed variable, the controls held steady across trials, and what the class should do about the leaking trial.

All materials for 3-5-ETS1-3 →

3.MD.B.3 Common Core Math

Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step 'how many more' and 'how many less' problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.

How this material aligns: Items 1 through 3 apply a five-centimeter scale to bar heights, and items 4, 5, and 7 are how-much-farther and total questions from the same three readings.

All materials for 3.MD.B.3 →

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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 draw a scaled bar graph of three squirt lengths using a five-centimeter scale.
Students will find differences and totals from the squirt-length table.
Students will name the changed variable and one control in a fair test.

Vocabulary

Water tower: A water tower is a big tank raised high above town that stores drinking water. Its height is what pushes water through the pipes, keeping the pressure steady even when the power goes out.

Also: height, pressure, fair test, scale, bar graph

Teacher overview

A water tower does its work by height: the weight of the water standing in the tank pushes the water in the pipes below, which is why towns put tanks on hills or on tall legs. This worksheet uses an invented bottle test in which a class filled one bottle to three different marks and measured how far the stream carried each time, then asks students to graph and compare those three readings. A misconception to watch for is the idea that the amount of water in the tank sets the push, rather than the height of the water above the pipe. Filling one bottle to a higher mark raises the height and adds volume at the same time, so this test on its own does not separate the two, and items 11 and 12 move the comparison to two tanks at different heights, which is where the class can discuss the difference.

Harrowby's Tower Height Test: A Grade 3 Water Pressure Worksheet — Grade 3 Science

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Harrowby is a made-up town. Its water sits in a tall tank. People call that tank a water tower. The water in the tower pushes on the pipes below.

A class tested this idea. They used one bottle with one small hole. They filled the bottle to three marks. Tape covered the hole while they filled it. On a count of three, they pulled the tape off. Each time they let the water squirt out. They measured how far the stream went. The bottle, the hole, and the table stayed the same. Only the water height changed.

Water height in the bottle	How far the water squirted
10 cm	20 cm
20 cm	35 cm
30 cm	45 cm

Draw a bar graph of the three squirt lengths. Let each square stand for 5 cm. Then answer the questions.

The 30 cm fill squirted 45 cm. Each square stands for 5 cm. How many squares tall is that bar?
The 10 cm fill squirted 20 cm. How many squares tall is that bar?
The 20 cm fill squirted 35 cm. How many squares tall is that bar?
The 30 cm fill squirted 45 cm. The 10 cm fill squirted 20 cm. How much farther did the 30 cm fill squirt?
The 20 cm fill squirted 35 cm. The 10 cm fill squirted 20 cm. How much farther did the 20 cm fill squirt?
Which fill height sent the water the farthest?
Add the three squirt lengths. They were 20 cm, 35 cm, and 45 cm.
What one thing did the class change in each test?
Name one thing the class kept the same in every test.
In one test the tape leaked before the count began. What should the class do about that test?
A tank on a hill holds water higher than a tank in a valley. Use the table. Which tank pushes water harder?
Harrowby wants water to reach the houses at the top of the hill. Should the town put its tower on the hill or in the valley? Tell why.

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: 9 squares. 45 divided by 5 is 9.
Answer: 4 squares. 20 divided by 5 is 4.
Answer: 7 squares. 35 divided by 5 is 7.
Answer: 25 cm. 45 minus 20 is 25.
Answer: 15 cm. 35 minus 20 is 15.
Answer: The 30 cm fill. Its stream went 45 cm, which is longer than 35 cm and 20 cm.
Answer: 100 cm. 20 plus 35 is 55, and 55 plus 45 is 100.
Answer: The water height. Only the level the bottle was filled to changed from test to test.
Answer: Accept any control named in the setup, including the same bottle, the same hole, the same table, or the same water. Accept other reasonable controls, such as the same person pouring or the same measuring tape.
Answer: Run that test again. Accept any answer saying the leaking test should be repeated or left out, because the water started escaping before the trial began, so its reading cannot be compared with the others.
Answer: The tank on the hill. Higher water squirted farther in every row of the table, so the higher tank pushes harder.
Answer: On the hill. Accept any answer using the table to argue that water pushes harder from a greater height, so a tower on the hill can still reach houses at the top of the hill.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students graph paper with the three bar labels and the 5 cm scale already printed, and let them shade bars rather than draw them. Assign items 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8. Provide a two-picture card showing a tall tank and a short tank so items 11 and 12 can be answered by pointing before writing.

Extension

Ask students to predict how far the stream would go from a 40 cm fill in this made-up test and to explain the prediction from the pattern in the table. Then have them sketch a second bar graph for a bottle with a wider hole, keeping the same 5 cm scale, and write one sentence about which reading they are least sure of.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "height," "squirt," and "tower" with a squeeze bottle held at two levels over a tray. Post the words "same" and "changed" as headers and sort the setup sentences under them as a class. Provide the frames "The bar is ___ squares tall" and "The ___ tank pushes harder because ___," and allow item 6 to be answered by pointing to the table row.

Extensions

Have pairs build the same test with a milk jug and one pin hole made by an adult, taping a paper ruler to the side and marking the same three fill lines. Ask them to compare their own three readings with the invented table on this worksheet and to write one sentence about which parts of the pattern matched.