Grade 4: Multi-Step Mixed Challenges
These original challenges combine several skills in one story. Record intermediate results, include units, draw a model or route when useful, and check the final result. Teachers can reveal answers using the existing hidden-answer controls.
Town expedition: coordinates, distance, time and fare
Draw a coordinate grid with x from 0 to 20 and y from 0 to 16. Label east as increasing x and north as increasing y. One square is one block. Start at the library (3, 2). Travel north 4 blocks, east 5 to the bakery, south 2, east 4 to the museum, north 6, west 3 to the park, south 5, then east 6 to the station. Travel takes 2 minutes per block. Stop for 5 minutes at each of the bakery, museum and park.
- Make a route table listing the ordered pair after every move.
- Give the coordinates of the bakery, museum, park and station.
- How many blocks does the full route cover?
- Leave at 9:10 a.m. When do you reach the station, including the three stops?
- Find the shortest return trip along horizontal and vertical streets. How much shorter is it than the outward route?
- The outward fare is $3 plus $1 per 5 blocks. Find the fare for the 35-block route.
- A pupil swaps each x and y coordinate. How can you spot the mistake at the station?
Garden planning: area, perimeter and budget
A rectangle is 12 m long and 8 m wide. A 4 m by 3 m pond is inside it. The rest is lawn. A 2 m gate interrupts the outside fence. Seed costs $2 per square meter; fencing costs $5 per meter. Budget: $400.
- Find the rectangle area and pond area.
- Find the lawn area and seed cost.
- Find the fence length and cost.
- Is the budget enough? How much remains?
- A $50 bench is added. What is the new total and budget shortfall?
Source notes
Inspired by the themed, mixed-skill activities in Evan-Moorโs Skill Sharpeners Math series. Stories, values and questions above are original.
- Grade 4: Getting to the Park, PDF page 9 (printed page 7), and the operation path on PDF page 10.