25 Division Word Problems for Grades 3 to 5 With Tips On Supporting Students’ Progress

Division word problems are important in building proficiency in division. Division is one of the bedrocks of math alongside addition, subtraction and multiplication. Therefore, students must have a deep understanding of division, its function within arithmetic and word problems, and how to apply short division and long division successfully.

Division is the mathematical process of breaking a number up into equal parts and finding out how many equal parts you can have. It may be that you have a remainder following the division or you may have no remainder, just a whole number as your answer.

What are division word problems?

Division word problems are an extension of the arithmetic division method whereby they are word problems with division at the heart. Students are expected to use the division process to find a solution to the word problem.

Typically, word problems use a real-life or real-world scenario and students are expected to interpret what the word problem is asking and apply their division knowledge to find the answer.

Division can be introduced through grouping before advancing, in higher-grade math, to the formal long division method.

To help you with the division journey, we have put together a collection of division word problems which can be used for children between 3rd grade to 5th grade.

If you’re looking for more division word problems, explore the collection of division word problem worksheets for elementary school students.

Division word problems in upper elementary

As children enter 3rd grade, they begin to develop their mental and written strategies for division.

Students begin to use their multiplication and times tables knowledge to assist them when solving division problems alongside their knowledge of the corresponding division and multiplication facts. 

By the end of 3rd grade, students are expected to recall their multiplication and division facts for multiplication times tables up to 10 x 10. They should also use their knowledge of place value, and known and derived facts to assist with simple division such as dividing by 1 and halving.

Introducing partial quotients 

Before learning the standard algorithm, also known as long division, students learn the partial quotients method. They practice their short division fluency to answer division word problems with whole number or integer answers, and those with a remainder.

Before entering 4th and 5th grade, students encounter division word problems and multi step problems. These use increasingly harder numbers, more than a single digit. Students move from simple division problems, such as:

‘If we have 30 students in our class and are divided into groups of 5, how many students will be in each group?’

to:

‘If there are 56 books in our library and they are shared among 7 children, how many books would each child get?

Introducing standard algorithm division

4th grade students work towards dividing 4 digit numbers by a one digit number using partial quotients. They must interpret remainders in the correct context and present the remainder as a decimal or fraction.

Students should also be able to divide mentally and know how to divide by 10, 100 and 1,000 and how place value works alongside dividing a number so it is 10, 100 or 1,000 times smaller.

5th grade students are introduced to the standard algorithm, or long division method. By the end of 5th grade, students should be fluent in multiplication and division, and written strategies. They must be able to apply knowledge in fraction word problems.

In addition to the 4th grade requirements, 5th grade students are expected to consolidate these formal division methods before dividing a four digit number by a two digit number using the formal method of standard algorithm division.

Again, they should understand remainders within this and present them in the correct context. 

This also flows into division word problems as children must read a multi-step problem and know how to interpret it, apply their divisional knowledge and solve the problem step-by-step.

The concept of multi-step problems builds up at each stage of your state math curriculum.

Why are word problems important for childrens’ understanding of division?

Word problems, alongside the use of concrete objects and visual representations, are important in helping children understand the complexities and possible abstract nature of division.

While children may understand that dividing results in a smaller answer, it is important to explore how division looks visually before providing them with word problem worksheets. This is the same when exploring arrays to support multiplication word problems.

Applying math to real life situations

Word problems are important because they provide a real-life context to help children understand division and where we encounter it in real life.

Allowing children to see how division is used in everyday situations, makes it more meaningful and relevant. In turn, this develops a deeper, more well—rounded understanding of the four operations.

Building problem solving skills

Word problems are vital to developing problem solving skills. First, students must read and understand the problem before identifying the relevant information within the contextual problem and apply their knowledge to find a solution.

This naturally builds critical thinking and a child’s reasoning ability, an important skill for any mathematician.

Developing mathematical language skills

Finally, the importance of moving from simple division word problems to more challenging ones enhances students’ vocabulary and language skills.

For children to develop an understanding of vocabularies such as digit divisors, quotient and remainders, they must first understand these key words and apply them to the process of division and communicate clearly what they are aiming to do.

Deepening understanding of the inverse relationship between division and multiplication

Division word problems solidify the connection between multiplication and division. Understanding these inverse operations and the ability to interchange the skills of multiplication and division will help make connections between different mathematical concepts and deepen students’ learning. 

How to teach division word problem solving in elementary school.

Having taught the concept of division to students using concrete examples, for example, grouping or sharing counters and cubes, the next step is to advance to division word problems. 

As with all word problems, students must carefully read the question and decipher what is asked. Do they need to add, subtract, multiply or divide? Are they solving a multi-step problem and need to do more than one step? They may decide what operation to use and then represent it visually.

Example of a division word problem

There are 40 pieces of candy ready to go in the party bags for Laura’s birthday. They are to be shared between 8 friends. How many pieces of candy will each child get?

How to solve this:

First, we need to interpret the question. Laura has invited 8 friends to her party and she has 40 pieces of candy to share equally between her friends. So we know:

• First, we need to interpret the question. Laura has invited 8 friends to her party and she has 40 pieces of candy to share equally between her friends. So we know:
• There are 40 pieces of candy in total
• They are to be divided among 8 friends in total
• Students must divide the total number of candies by the number of friends

To solve this problem we could use the partial quotient method and divide the dividend by the the divisor which would be 40 / 8.

If we do this, we would get the quotient of 5. Each friend would get 5 pieces of candy each as 40 divided by 8 is 5.

Alternatively, we could use the inverse multiplication to solve this problem. We may not know the division fact that 40 divided by 8 = 5 but if we look to the inverse we may know what number multiplied by 8 equals 40. If we did our 8 times table we would get the answer of 5 – the correct answer.

How can we show this visually?

We could show 8 circles, each representing a child, and place a piece of candy in each circle until all 40 pieces of candy are placed equally in the circles. Each child should have 5 candies.

Students could also represent the division word problem as a bar model:

• Split the bar model into 8 sections
• Each section of the bar should have 5 pieces of candy
• Divide the 40 candies between the 8 sections

How these visual representations look:

Or:

Examples of elementary division word problems

Below are examples of what can be expected in each grade with Third Space Learning’s tutoring programs from grades 3 to 5.

Students become familiar with word problems throughout their learning. They encounter word problems regularly throughout each personalized lesson.

Scaffolded and independent practice of word problems increases students’ confidence, familiarity with vocabulary and mathematical understanding.

3rd grade division word problems

Word problems for 3rd grade students, particularly division word problems, should encourage:

• Recall of their times table facts
• Division of two digit numbers by one digit numbers using mental and partial quotients
• Word problems may also involve multi-step problems

Question 1:

If a school has 90 students in 2nd grade and there are 3 classes in 2nd grade, how many students are in each class?

Answer: 30

90 shared equally into 3 classes = 30 children per class

Question 2:

Every day a school gets a delivery of milk in a crate. There are 96 cartons of milk in the crate. If there are 8 milk cartons in a pack, how many packs will be in the crate?

Answer: 8

96 divided by 12 = 8.

There are 8 cartons of milk in a pack.

Question 3:

A delivery of 96 footballs arrives at school for sports day. They are to be shared equally between 4 classes. How many footballs does each class get?

Answer: 24

96 divided by 4 = 24 footballs per class

Question 4:

3rd grade is going to the beach on a school trip. If there are 100 children in 3rd grade and only 10 children can go on one mini bus, how many mini buses does Mr. Pearson need to book?

Answer: 10

100 children divided 10 = 10 mini buses.

Question 5:

If you have 60 flowers and divide them into four flower pots, how many flowers are in each pot? Are there any left over?

Answer: 15 flowers in each pot.

If we divide 60 into 4 equal groups then we can use the partial quotient method.

When using the partial quotients method, students rely on what multiplication facts they can use. 

Because we are dividing 60 by 4, we may ask ourselves, what number can I multiply 4 by, to get close to 60 without going over? Students should be familiar with their 10s time tables, and 4 x 10 = 40. We place the 10 above the quotient line, and then subtract 40 from 60, leaving 20 remaining.

We will now start the process all over again. What number can I multiply 4 by to get close to 20 without going over? We know that 4 x 5 = 20, so again, place 5 above the 10 in the quotient line and subtract 20 – 20. Because there is nothing left over, we are done dividing.

So the answer to 60 divided by 4 = 15.

This would look like:

4th grade division word problems

Word problems for 4th grade center around dividing a 4 digit number by a 1 digit number using the partial products method or area model method of division. They will also be introduced to remainders and be expected to interpret remainders correctly depending on the context. 

Question 1:

Ronan has a ball of string that is 819 cm long. He cuts it into 7 equal pieces. How long is 1 piece of string?

Answer: 117cm

819 divided by 7 = 117

Question 2:

In upper elementary there are 1,248 colored pencils. If there are 6 classes in upper elementary, how many pencils would each class receive?

Answer: 208

We use the division method to divide 1,248 by 6 and we get 208 as the result.

Question 3:

Mia buys three computer games for $84. How much is one computer game?

Answer: $28.

We divide $84.00 by 3 and we get $28.00.

Question 4:

The area of the school hall is 1,704m and needs to be split into four quadrants. What would be the area of each quadrant?

Answer: 426m

We take the total area of the school and divide it by 4 to represent each quadrant. In doing so, we would have 426m for each quadrant.

To check this is the correct answer, we could do the inverse and multiply 426 by 4 and we would get 1,704m.

Question 5:

Packets of candy are put into multi packs of 4. Today, 7,800 packets of candy were packed. How many boxes of candy were packed?

Answer: 163 boxes

We then have to take the total packets of candy– 7,800 – and divide this by 4. If we do this we will get the answer 1,950 boxes were packed.

5th grade division word problems

Word problems for 5th grade should prepare students for the end of elementary school. Students are familiar with the concept of standard algorithm division and dividing a 4 digit number by a 2 digit number using the formal method of standard algorithm division.

Question 1:

A school is selling tickets at $6 each to attend the Big Christmas Fair. Over 15 weeks it has earned an amazing $9,720! On average, how many tickets were sold each week?

Answer: 108 tickets per week

First, we need to use the formal method of standard algorithm division to divide the grand total – $9,720 by 15. If we do this correctly we will have the answer 648.

Then, we need to take this answer of 648, which is how much is earned each week, and then divide this by $6, the amount each ticket is.

This will result in the number of tickets sold each week – 108 tickets.

Question 2:

A square sports field has a perimeter of 2.696km. How long is each side of the field?

Answer: 674m

To answer this we need to be able to convert the 2.696km into meters. There are 1000 meters in a kilometer so that would be 2,696m. Then we divide this by 4 and get 674m for one side.

Question 3:

Keira is given a toy blocks kit containing 2,208 individual blocks. She wants to split the toy blocks evenly between 15 friends and herself to work on making a toy block city together. How many blocks should she give each of her friends?

Answer: 138 blocks

We need to use the formal method of standard algorithm division to solve this. We also need to ensure we include Keira and her 15 friends so we have the number 16 as the divisor.

When we divide 2,208 by 16 using long division we get the answer 138.

Question 4:

Wesleigh was running in the cross country race. He ran for a distance of 3,569m and it took him 11 minutes to complete the race. How many meters did he run per minute? Give your answer to the nearest whole meter.

Answer: 324 meters

We need to use standard algorithm division to divide 3,569 by 11. That will give us an answer of 324.45. As the decimal can be rounded down, the answer is 324 meters.

Question 5:

Sophia is preparing her candy stall for the fair. She can fit 18 tins of candy into one crate. How many crates will be needed to fit 153 tins of candy?

Answer: 9 crates 

We divide 153 by 18 using standard algorithm division and we have an answer of 8, remainder 5. Therefore, having 8 crates would not be enough as we would have 85 tins left over and so we need a further tin to house the 5 tins left over. So, 9 crates are needed.

More word problems resources

Are you looking for more word problems resources? Take a look at our library of word problems practice questions including:

• Time word problems
• Ratio word problems
• Addition word problems
• Subtraction word problems
• 2nd grade word problems

Do you have students who need extra support in math?
Give your students more opportunities to consolidate learning and practice skills through personalized math tutoring with their own dedicated online math tutor.

Each student receives differentiated instruction designed to close their individual learning gaps, and scaffolded learning ensures every student learns at the right pace. Lessons are aligned with your state’s standards and assessments, plus you’ll receive regular reports every step of the way.

Personalized one-on-one math tutoring programs are available for:
– 2nd grade tutoring
– 3rd grade tutoring
– 4th grade tutoring
– 5th grade tutoring
– 6th grade tutoring
– 7th grade tutoring
– 8th grade tutoring

Why not learn more about how it works?

The content in this article was originally written by former Deputy Headteacher Steven Eastes and has since been revised and adapted for US schools by elementary math teacher Christi Kulesza.