The Great Wilderness Expedition
A free, printable Grade 8 multi-step word problem worksheet. Each problem takes two or three steps to solve. Work them on screen or print the PDF — a teacher/parent answer key is included.
Show answer key (for grown-ups)
1.An adventure team of 4 explorers starts their trek with 150 energy bars. Along the way, they discover an abandoned supply chest containing 38 more bars. If they decide to keep 24 bars in a safety reserve and divide the remaining bars equally, how many bars does each explorer get?41
2.An ancient jungle temple has 3 flights of stairs with 45 steps each. Leo has climbed up 2 full flights of stairs, but then slips and slides back down 12 steps. If he climbs the remaining steps to the very top at a rate of 3 steps per second, how many seconds will it take him to reach the summit?19
3.To build a temporary rope bridge across a deep canyon, the adventurers need exactly 250 meters of rope. They currently have 4 small spools with 18 meters of rope each, and 3 large spools with 42 meters of rope each. How many more meters of rope must they find to complete the bridge?52
4.A search-and-rescue raft travels down a winding river at a speed of 12 kilometers per hour. The team sails for 5 hours, but a strong counter-current pushes them backward a total of 8 kilometers during their journey. If their final destination is 92 kilometers from their starting point, how many more kilometers do they need to travel?40
5.While exploring the Crystal Caverns, Maya gathers 8 glowing red crystals worth 15 points each and 12 sparkling blue crystals worth 25 points each. She wants to trade them all for ancient map pieces that cost 60 points each. How many map pieces can Maya purchase with her crystals?7
6.A mini-submarine researching a trench starts at a depth of 45 meters below sea level. It descends an additional 125 meters to study a coral reef, then ascends 60 meters to avoid a school of jellyfish. From that point, it dives down to a new depth that is exactly 3 times deeper. What is the submarine's final depth in meters?330