Volume Word Problems

Grade level

5th grade

Time

About 30 minutes

Topic

Math word problems

Answer key

Yes, page 2 of the PDF

Kids practice

Reading word problems, Choosing the operation, Showing work, Multi-step reasoning

What kids do

“Multiply length × width × height. Write the answer in cubic units.”

Printed on the sheet:

1. 1 A box is 5 cm long, 4 cm wide and 3 cm tall. What is its volume?
2. 2 A fish tank is 20 inches long, 10 inches wide and 12 inches tall. What is its volume?
3. 4 A sandbox holds 48 cubic feet of sand. It is 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. How deep is the sand?
4. 5 Two boxes are stacked. One is 3 by 2 by 2 feet and the other is 4 by 3 by 1 feet. What is their total volume?

Words on this sheet

cubic centimeterscubic inchescubic feetfeet

Teacher tip

Build one box from cubes so kids see length, width and height before they multiply.

How to use it

• Let kids act out a problem or draw it before they write a number sentence.
• Have partners solve the same problem two ways and compare.
• Do the first problem together under a document camera, then let kids finish on their own.

Watch for

Answers with no unit. Ask “Twelve what?”

Talk about it

• What label goes with your answer?
• Which problem was the hardest? What made it hard?

Take it further

Pick one problem and change one number. How does the answer change?

US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.