Lesson 8 of 8 · Grades 3 to 6
Practice: Real-life area and volume problems
Ten real-life problems about fences, paint, tiles, water tanks and boxes, each one needing the right measure and unit in the answer.
How to use this page
This page gives you ten more questions on the same idea as the lesson "Real-life area and volume problems". Work through them at your own speed. Write your answer down or say it out loud before you open the answer box, so you give yourself a real chance to think.
If a question feels hard, go back to the lesson and look at the worked example again. Getting a question wrong is useful; it shows you the part that needs one more look.
Practice questions
Answer all ten questions in your notebook or in your head. Then open each answer to check your work.
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A wall is 8 m long and 4 m tall. One tin of paint covers 8 m². How many tins cover the wall?
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4 tins. The wall is 32 m², and 32 ÷ 8 = 4.
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A garden is 14 m long and 9 m wide. How much fence goes all the way around it?
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46 m. 2 × (14 + 9) = 2 × 23 = 46.
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A water tank is 50 cm long, 30 cm wide and 40 cm tall. What is its volume?
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60,000 cm³. 50 × 30 × 40 = 60,000.
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A pool floor is 12 m long and 6 m wide. One tile covers 1 m². How many tiles cover the floor?
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72 tiles. The floor is 72 m², and each tile is 1 m².
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A tank holds 72 L. It has 30 L inside. How many litres are needed to fill it?
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42 L. 72 - 30 = 42.
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A vegetable patch is 6 m long and 5 m wide. What area of soil is in the patch?
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30 m². 6 × 5 = 30.
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A crate is 40 cm long, 25 cm wide and 20 cm tall. What is its volume?
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20,000 cm³. 40 × 25 × 20 = 20,000.
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A garden is 11 m long and 8 m wide. It needs a fence around the outside and turf inside. How many metres of fence and how many square metres of turf?
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38 m of fence and 88 m² of turf. 2 × (11 + 8) = 38, and 11 × 8 = 88.
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A tank holds 100 L and drains 35 L. How much water is left?
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65 L. 100 - 35 = 65.
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A box is 8 cm long, 5 cm wide and 4 cm tall. Another box is 10 cm long, 4 cm wide and 3 cm tall. Which has the bigger volume?
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The first box. It is 160 cm³, and the second is 120 cm³.