3rd Grade Open Ended Problems
Use before, with or after Harcourt Unit 2
1. Write a 3 digit number when rounding to the nearest ten, the tens place stays the same, but
when rounded to the nearest hundred, the hundreds place changes. Show as many different
solutions as you can. NBT1
2. There are more apples than oranges at a fruit stand. There are more than 100 of each fruit.
How many apples and oranges could there be? Show as many different solutions as you can.
NBT2
3. Using picture, number, words, tell and show what time your favorite subject starts, ends and
the elapsed time. MD1
Use before, with or after Harcourt Unit 3, 4
4. Choose one flag from the Montana American Indian tribes and draw it with a scale of choice.
Find the area by tiling it and using multiplication. Use tiling to show the distributive property of
multiplication.
(Resource for flag http://www.billings.k12.mt.us/literacy/mont_indian/flags.htm) MD7
5. Looking at your multiplication table, explore the properties of operations. What patterns do
you see? Why do these patterns happen? OA9
6. Write down a multiplication problem. How could you show that same problem using the
Commutative, Associative, and Distributive Properties of Multiplication with your problem?
OA5
7. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought bubble gum crayons for a dollar. They come in packages
of 3 boxes with 8 crayons in each. If I purchased some, how many total crayons could I have?
Show as many solutions as possible. OA1
8. The principal bought 24 playground balls. If she want to give the same amount of balls to
classes/grades, show all the possible ways she can divide the equipment within the school. OA2
9. Select and show a multiplication and division fact family. Explain how knowing this fact family
will help you become fluent with your multiplication facts within 100. OA7
10. The 3rd grade classrooms are going to have Chinese food for lunch. Each classroom has 20
students. What are the possible number of chopsticks that they would need? Show all possible
solutions. NBT3
11. A farmer milks 8 cows every hour. The size of his herd changes as new calves are born and
as he sells some of his stock. He never has less than 48 cows or more than 64. How many hours
does it take him to milk his cows? Show all possible solutions. OA4
12. Choose 2 factors and their product to write a division number story. Write a related
multiplication story. Write a number sentence for each story. Draw a picture or diagram for
each story. (K-5 math Teaching resources) OA6
13. Choose one of the following numbers…..12, 24, or 36. Suppose that this number of
musicians in a marching band were getting ready for a parade. How many different ways could
the musicians in the marching band arrange themselves into equal rows? Show using arrays,
numbers or words as many solutions as you can. (K-5 math Teaching resources) OA3
14. You and your family are going to attend all of the Montana Pow Pows in July. Each person
will need three meals a day. You need to figure out the total number of meals for your family.
OA8
Use before, with or after Harcourt Unit 5
15. Draw a scaled bar and picture graph showing the number of miles between each Pow Wow
on the Montana Pow Wow circuit. Write and solve two questions using “how many more” and
“how many less” using information presented in your graph. MD3
16. Choose three body parts to measure to the nearest half or quarter inch. Show the data by
making a line plot with appropriate labels. (Marilyn Burns About Teaching Mathematics or Foss
Measurement Module Resources) MD4
17. Measure the volume, capacity, and mass of your given container using grams, kilograms, and
liters. Using picture, number, words, compare your volume, capacity, and mass measurements.
Explain why your container is sold by volume or mass, and why it is not sold by capacity.
(Foss Measurement Module Resources Extension) MD2
18. Choose a classroom object that has a plane figured face and find its area in unit squares.
Make sure your object can be covered without gaps or overlaps. MD5
19. Trace your foot on centimeter squared paper. Figure out the area of your foot in square
centimeters and record. Can you find someone with the same area? Can you find someone
with a larger area or smaller area? (Marilyn Burns About Teaching Mathematics) MD6
20. What generalization can you make about squares and rectangles that have the same
perimeter? How about the same area? Give an example of each. (Harcourt pg. 451 Assess or
Marilyn Burns About Teaching Mathematics) MD8
Use before, with or after Harcourt Unit 6
21. Select at least 3 different quadrilateral patterns blocks. Compare and contrast the patterns
blocks on a selected graphic organizer using their attributes. 3G1
22. Jeff made a pan of brownies to share with Carla and Keith. The brownies were cut into equal
pieces. The three friends each ate a different number of brownies. Make a drawing of the pan
of brownies. Mark each piece with J, C, or K to show which child ate it. Write each child’s name
and tell what fraction of the brownies he or she ate. (Harcourt Performance Assessment pg.
594) 3G2
Use before, with or after Harcourt Unit 8
23. Riley buys a Hershey Bar. Hershey Bars are cut into an equal number of pieces. Draw and
label her Hershey Bar. Give the fraction if Riley eats one piece of her chocolate. Give the
fractions if Riley eats more than one piece of her Hershey Bar. Show as many different solutions
as you can. NF1
24. Draw number line diagrams of selected fractions. Label each point on the number lines with
the fractions they represent. Show as many fractions as you can. NF2
25. Evan and Samantha order pizzas. Evan orders a large pizza and Samantha orders a medium
pizza. Each pizza is cut into the same amount of equal pieces. Draw and label their pizzas and
draw a number to show the fraction for the pizza pieces. Looking at Evan’s pizza, what
equivalent fractions do you see? Pick a fraction for each pizza and compare and contrast the
two. NF3