Grade 3 Lesson plan
Sparrow Hill's Monthly Water Log: Adding and Subtracting to 1000
A grade 3 lesson where students use a fictional school garden's monthly water-use log to add and subtract three-digit gallon totals within 1000.
Common Core Math · Grade 3
3.NBT.A.2 Fluently add and subtract within 1000
Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Why water teaches this standard well
Students add and subtract three-digit gallon totals from a school's monthly water-use log to find the change from one month to the next. Fluent regrouping with numbers this size is exactly what is needed to track a real utility account over a school year.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
16 materials aligned to 3.NBT.A.2
Lesson plans
Worksheets
Grade 3 Worksheet
Choosing a Well Site at Vinehall: A Grade 3 Groundwater Worksheet
A grade 3 worksheet with invented test-hole data from a made-up village, where students subtract within 1000 and pick a well site that meets a goal and a limit.
Grade 3 Worksheet
Elmcross Reuse Center Log: A Grade 3 Add and Subtract Worksheet
A grade 3 worksheet where students add and subtract three-digit liter totals from a fictional town's water reuse log, then round to the nearest ten to check a sum.
Grade 3 Worksheet
Birchpond Water Tower and Pipe Map: A Grade 3 Worksheet
A grade 3 engineering worksheet where students read a water tower and pipe plan for the town of Birchpond and add, subtract, and multiply to size the design.
Grade 3 Worksheet
Wickersham Plant's Morning Check Route: A Grade 3 Time Worksheet
A grade 3 worksheet where students find finish times, gaps, and totals for the five stops on a fictional water plant operator's morning check route.
Grade 3 Worksheet
Curlew's Water System Timeline: A Grade 3 History Worksheet
Students read the fictional town of Curlew's water timeline, from hand pump days to water meters, and subtract to find how many years passed between changes.
Grade 3 Worksheet
Delgado Family Water Log: A Grade 3 Add-Subtract Worksheet
A grade 3 worksheet where students add and subtract a fictional family's daily liter totals to see how fixing a leak changed their water use over a week.
Math problem sets
Grade 3 Math problem set
Was Halverstone's Summer Unusual? A Grade 3 Rain-Record Set
Nine grade 3 problems on four years of rainy-day counts from a fictional town, where students add and compare to judge whether one dry summer was unusual.
Grade 3 Math problem set
Bramblewood Reclamation Log: A Grade 3 Add and Subtract Set
A grade 3 problem set where students add and subtract three-digit liter totals within 1000 from a fictional water reclamation plant's daily test log.
Grade 3 Math problem set
Fernbrook Water Plant's Storage Tanks: A Grade 3 Liter Problem Set
A grade 3 math problem set where students add and subtract liter volumes for two storage tanks at a fictional water treatment plant to track fill levels.
Grade 3 Math problem set
South Fork Watershed's Rainfall Totals: A Grade 3 Problem Set
A grade 3 math set where students add, subtract, and halve four months of a fictional watershed's rainfall to track how much water recharges the ground.
Classroom activities
Grade 3 Classroom activity
Northwick's Broken Water Main: A Grade 3 Valve Map Activity
A 50-minute grade 3 activity where crews rotate through four repair stations and use a made-up valve map to shut off the fewest houses while fixing a leak.
Grade 3 Classroom activity
The Peppergate Founders Fair Water Plan: A Grade 3 Game
A grade 3 negotiation game in which four fair committees cut their water requests to fit one dry-day share, with a recording sheet of addition problems.
Grade 3 Classroom activity
Fernpath Waterworks Meter Match: A Grade 3 Subtraction Game
Partners take the roles of meter reader and checker on a fictional utility route, subtracting meter readings within 1000 and checking each answer by adding it back.
Grade 3 Classroom activity
Garrowmoor's Dry Month: A Grade 3 Reservoir Gauge Game
A 45-minute grade 3 team game where students track a fictional town's reservoir gauge through four dry weeks and play saving cards to finish far above the line.
Quizzes & test questions
Grade 3 Quiz & test questions
Pinderly Votes on a New Water Plant: A Grade 3 Quiz
A 22-point grade 3 civics quiz on how the fictional town of Pinderly studied, paid for, and voted on a new water plant, with three arithmetic items.