Division Word Problems Worksheets
As far as story or word problems go this is often the operation that perplexes students the most. They often have difficulty not only identifying the operation that is required, but how to identify the divisor and the dividend. I find it helpful for students to draw a small picture for themselves that outlines what each exercise is asking of them when visually see what it involves, you will often recognize that some parts fit into others quite nicely. I encourage all my students to get into this habit. It makes things flow much easier for them. I think you will find all of these exercises will help you get into good habits when breaking down story based problems. This is a series of worksheets that focus on word problems that include division operations.
Aligned Standard: Grade 3 Operations - 3.OA.2
- Notebooks and Recycling Step-by-step Lesson- Compare sharing notebook pages to actual quotients.
- Guided Lesson - Share some pencils, put cups on the shelf, and plant some seeds.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - I really like the way these came out. I converted the pictures into division problems themselves.
- Practice Worksheet - Work through 10 quotient based word problems that all present division as a form of sharing.
- Matching Worksheet - Match the sharing based word problems to their final quotient.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Homework Sheets
I tried to include as many images as I could as I wrote these to help support visual learners.
- Homework 1- A group of 4 boys collected a total of 12 apples from a box to eat. If they each collected the same amount, how many apples did each boy collect?
- Homework 2- A teacher gave out 15 pencils to 3 students. Each student got the same number of pencils. How many pencils did each student get?
- Homework 3- We have to distribute 6 carrots to 2 rabbits. If they each get the same amount, how many carrots did each rabbit get?
Practice Worksheets
I tried to progress students to that next level by grouping the questions on a single topic.
- Practice 1- We have to put 12 dollar bills in 2 bags. If each bag has to get the same amount, how many bills should be in each bag?
- Practice 2- We have to distribute 20 juice boxes among 4 soldiers. If they each get the same amount, how many juice boxes does each soldier get?
- Practice 3- We have to feed 24 leaves to 3 sheep. If they each get the same amount, how many leaves will each sheep get?
Math Skill Quizzes
The quizzes expect that students have this skill mastered.
- Quiz 1- We have to feed 12 bones to 3 dogs. If they each get the same amount, how many bones will each dog get?
- Quiz 2- Tiffany went strawberry picking. At the end of the day she had 72 beautiful strawberries. The containers that hold strawberries each can fit up to 12 straw berries each. How many containers will Tiffany need for all her strawberries?
How to Know If a Word Problem Requires Division
There are four types of standard basic operations word problems that kids have to deal with in mathematics. They include the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As compared to addition and subtraction, kids find multiplication and division word problems more complex and difficult to solve. The most complicated part of solving a word problem is the identification of which arithmetic operation is to be applied.
Getting a good amount of practice in is what will help kids grasp the concept of division word problems perfectly but following these simple steps will help kids identify if a word problem requires division or not. We need to remember that the concept of division has use breaking a whole of something into many different partitions or parts.
Step 1: Read the Word Problem - Reading is the most important step in solving a word problem. Without thoroughly reading the problem, one will never be able to identify its type.
Step 2: Underline the Keywords - Whether its addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, certain keywords clearly indicate the type of world problem. Here are several different terms that will help kids spot something that requires division;
- per, each
- divided into
- out of
- the ratio of, the quotient of
- percent (divide by 100)
- equal pieces, split, evenly
- average
- cut or split
If any of these words are in the word problem, it is an indication that the problem requires the division to be solved. From there you just need to determine which object is the dividend (what is to split) and the divisor (how many parts to split it into). As the problems get more advanced you will begin to remainders as an outcome as well.
Example Problem
Beverly was running a dairy farm. Each milk crate could hold 6 gallon containers of milk. At the end of the day Beverly had worked with the cows to make 84 gallon containers of milk. How many milk crates will she need to hold all that milk?
Solution
In this problem we are clearly missing a keyword to work with which make it a bit more difficult. We know need to think about what are we trying to split into what. It seems like Beverly is trying to get those milk containers into crates. So, the dividend would be the containers and the divisor would be the crates. If 6 containers fit in each crate, it would make sense that the solution would be: total number of milk containers ÷ the number of containers that fit into a crate. Converting those to actual values: 84 ÷ 6 = 14. So we would need 14 crates.
Tips When Solving Division Word Problems
When solving any word problem that involves a math operation the first step is to identify the type of operation you will be undergoing.As we covered above, there are a number of different keywords that often give this away.In the case of division, you will be looking for a word that indicates that something is being shared of a series of things.Once you have determined that division is involved or required of you, the next step is to establish what value is be shared or broken up (divided). This value is called the dividend.The next step is to determine how this value will be shared and in how many pieces it will be broken into.That number is called the divisor. The last step is to process the quotient between those two values and find the solution.The last step that is specific to word problems, as well as measurement problems, is to make sure you have unit specified for each unit.