Division Word Problems for Elementary Students

How to Practice Division Word Problems at Home

After becoming accustomed to addition, subtraction and multiplication, division can seem an intimidating concept to some students. You can help familiarize your child with division by explaining its relationship to multiplication: division is like backwards multiplication. For instance, two times three is six (2 x 3 = 6), and six divided by three equals two (6 ÷ 3 = 2). In other words, you can use multiplication to check your division.

If your child knows basic division facts, he or she will be better prepared to quickly and easily solve more difficult division problems. Thus, you might want to practice basic division facts at home using flashcards. To reinforce the relationship between multiplication and division, add in a few multiplication flashcards as well.

You also can create your own division word problems to supplement your child's homework. These problems don't have to take long to solve, and you only need to provide a few questions each night. However, frequent and consistent practice is key.

Division Word Problems by Grade Level

Third Grade

1. Chris has 28 flowers and four vases. How many flowers can he put in each vase?

There can be seven flowers in each vase because 28 ÷ 4 = 7.

2. Jaime needs 42 strawberries to make a pie. Strawberries are sold in packages of seven. How many packages does Jaime need to buy?

Jaime needs to buy six packages of strawberries because 42 ÷ 7 = 6. Third graders will likely be familiar with these numbers because they just learned their multiplication tables.

Fourth Grade

1. Cara has to read a 130-page book in ten days. How many pages does she have to read each day to finish on time?

Cara has to read 13 pages a day because 130 ÷ 10 = 13. You may want to point out to your child that, when dividing by 10, you can simply move the decimal one place to the left (130 becomes 13.0).

2. At a wedding, each guest can eat three pieces of cake. If there are 300 slices, how many guests are at the wedding?

Divide 300 by three to calculate how many guests are at the wedding. Because 300 ÷ 3 = 100, there are 100 guests.

Fifth Grade

1. There's 1/4 of a cake left after Melanie's birthday party. If she wants to share the leftovers with someone else, what fraction of the cake will each person get?

At this age, students learn to divide fractions by whole numbers. For this problem, divide 1/4 by two (1/4 ÷ 2 = 1/8). Melanie and her friend will each receive 1/8 of the cake.

2. A 12-pack of soda is on sale for $15.30. At this price, how much is an individual can?

Each can is approximately $1.28. To solve, divide 15.30 by 12, which is 1.275. Then, round to the nearest hundredth, which is 1.28.