Grade 3, Operations
Word problems to 1000
Road trips, libraries and bottle drives: stories with numbers to 1000.
Three levels
One skill, rising difficulty
Each sheet carries one level. The three are the same skill at rising difficulty, each named for what it practises.
- Level 1: Add
- Read each problem. Show your work, then write the answer.
- Level 2: Subtract
- Read each problem. Show your work, then write the answer.
- Level 3: Two steps
- Read each problem. Show your work, then write the answer.
Worked example
How the sheet explains it
The helper printed at the top of each sheet: one solved example and the steps a student follows, before the first question. Every number sentence in it is proven by the same checker as the answer key.
Level 1: Add
The school library has 345 picture books and 218 chapter books. How many books does the library have in all? Answer: 563 books
- Picture books and chapter books together means add.
- Hundreds: 300 + 200 = 500. Tens: 40 + 10 = 50. Ones: 5 + 8 = 13.
- 500 + 50 + 13 = 563, so 345 + 218 = 563.
- The library has 563 books in all.
Level 2: Subtract
A ferry can carry 650 passengers. There are 428 passengers on board. How many more passengers can get on the ferry? Answer: 222 passengers
- How many more can get on means find the difference, so subtract.
- Take away 428 in parts: 650 − 400 = 250, then 250 − 20 = 230.
- Then 230 − 8 = 222, so 650 − 428 = 222.
- 222 more passengers can get on the ferry.
Level 3: Two steps
A bakery made 500 muffins. The bakery sold 215 muffins in the morning and 160 muffins in the afternoon. How many muffins are left? Answer: 125 muffins
- Muffins were sold two times, so take away two times.
- Morning: 500 − 215 = 285.
- Afternoon: 285 − 160 = 125. There are 125 muffins left.
Goes with
Reference sheets
One-page helpers a student keeps beside this sheet:
- Adding and subtracting in columns
Every reference, facts and support sheet is listed in the worksheet catalogue.
In the BC curriculum
Content standards
The British Columbia content standard this skill is written for, by the codes used across this site:
- bc.math.3.c.3
The wording of each standard is on the Province's mathematics curriculum page.
Print it free
Print the sheet and its answer key
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Back to all worksheets by grade, or read the Grade 3 guide to what this grade learns in British Columbia.